Department of Health and Social Care

Drugs: Misuse

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if the Government will make an assessment of whether the level of (a) drug-related deaths and (b) drug-related violence constitutes a public health emergency.

Jo Churchill: The Home Secretary has commissioned Dame Carol Black to undertake a major independent review into drug use, deaths and harm. The Review is looking at a wide range of issues, including the systems of support and enforcement around drug misuse, in order to inform action to tackle drug harms. Dame Carol will report, shortly, on the first stage of the review. The Government will consider carefully Dame Carol’s recommendations.

HIV Infection: Drugs

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care,  how many local authorities do not have a PrEP impact trial site.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

HIV Infection: Drugs

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support local authorities that do not have a PrEP impact trial prepare for routine commissioning.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

HIV Infection: Drugs

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that sufficient places are available in each clinic for the duration of the PreP trial.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Health: Screening

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Written Statement of 16 October 2019, Publication of Professor Sir Mike Richards’ Review of National Adult Screening Programmes, HCWS 11, when his Department plans to publish the implementation plan relating to Professor Sir Mike Richards’ Review of National Adult Screening Programmes.

Jo Churchill: We are currently reviewing the recommendations made in Professor Sir Mike Richards’ report and are working closely with NHS England and NHS Improvement, Public Health England and other partners across the health system to develop an implementation plan, which we expect to publish early next year.

Health: Screening

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Written Statement of 16 October 2019, Publication of Professor Sir Mike Richards’ Review of National Adult Screening Programmes, HCWS 11, which recommendations of Professor Sir Mike Richards’ Review of National Adult Screening Programmes he accepts and plans to implement.

Jo Churchill: We are currently reviewing the recommendations made in Professor Sir Mike Richards’ report and are working closely with NHS England and NHS Improvement, Public Health England and other partners across the health system to develop an implementation plan, which we expect to publish early next year.

HIV Infection: Males

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2019 to Question 1684 on HIV Infection: Males, what plans the Government has to collect information on the number of men that have contracted HIV while waiting to be placed on the PrEP impact trial.

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2019 to Question 1684 on HIV Infection: Males, what steps the Government is taking to prevent people contracting HIV while waiting to obtain a place on the PrEP impact trial.

Jo Churchill: The Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Impact Trial collects information about enrolled participants only. There are no plans to centrally collect information on the number of men that have contracted HIV while waiting to be placed on the Trial.A range of approaches to HIV prevention are in place, including encouraging condom use, needle exchange programmes, self-sampling and promoting expanded HIV testing and diagnosis.We would encourage people at high risk of HIV transmission to practice safe sex by using condoms, which also help protect against HIV and sexually transmitted infections.

Gender Recognition: Health Services

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, by what date it is planned that the process for the procurements of the new NHS Gender Identity Services for Adults will be completed.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Gender Recognition: Health Services

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the procurement of the new NHS England Gender Identity Services for Adults will build sufficient capacity to ensure that the NHS 18 week first referral to treatment target will be met.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Gender Recognition: Prescriptions

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the cost to clinical commissioning groups was of prescribing products related to gender identity for transgender and non-binary patients in each of the last five years.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Gender Recognition: Prescriptions

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will instruct Clinical Commissioning Groups to fund the cost of prescribing products related to gender identity for transgender and non-binary patients to ensure compliance with the Equalities Act 2010 throughout the health service.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Gender Recognition: Health Services

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what provisions he has put in place for those who define as non-binary in the new NHS Gender Identity Services specification.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Doctors: Recruitment

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the retention of newly qualified doctors in the NHS; and if he will make a statement.

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a system that requires newly qualified doctors to work for the NHS for a specified number of years to (a) increase retention levels and (b) reducing the cost to the public purse of training doctors who leave to work overseas; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Argar: There are currently no plans to introduce a requirement for newly qualified doctors to begin working in the National Health Service once they have completed their training.The vast majority of doctors do go on to work in the National Health Service after completing their Foundation Programme training. Analysis by the General Medical Council shows that 92.5% of doctors are present in specialty or general practitioner training or work as a doctor in the United Kingdom within three years after completing the Foundation Programme.

Palliative Care

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure the equity of access to (a) general and (b) specialist palliative care throughout England.

Caroline Dinenage: The Government and the National Health Service are highly committed to everyone having access to high quality personalised end of life care built around their individual needs and preferences. NHS England has produced a number of resources for commissioners, service providers and health, care and support staff focused on ensuring equality in end of life care. More recently, the publication of the NHS Long Term Plan and associated document, Universal Personalised Care, make clear that the NHS wants to put health inequalities at the core of the personalised care agenda. As outlined in the NHS Long Term Plan, this will be achieved by working with patients, families, local authorities and our voluntary sector partners both nationally and locally to roll out training to help staff identify and support relevant patients and to introduce proactive and personalised care planning for everyone identified as being in their last year of life. NHS England and NHS Improvement Specialised Services is currently reviewing its published Specialised Palliative Care Service Specification (published in 2013).

Palliative Care

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to require NHS clinical commissioners to provide 24-hour specialist advice services for generalist palliative care providers.

Caroline Dinenage: In 2016, NHS England published guidance prepared in collaboration with expert reference groups, and led by the National Clinical Director for End of Life Care, in response to requests by commissioners, service providers and clinicians for a clear description of what should be provided in terms of specialist level palliative care for people with progressive, life-limiting illness who have complex needs, and/or those whose usual care teams require the expert advice, guidance and support of those with specialist knowledge and skills in palliative care. The guidance states that ‘arrangements should be in place for specialist support to the wider care team at all times, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The service should have access to all essential specialists to constitute a specialist level palliative care team’. The guidance also includes the provision of “medical and nursing cover to allow assessment, advice and active management seven days a week, and 24 hour telephone advice” as an expected service characteristic.

Dental Services

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the cost of rolling out the dental contract reform prototypes pilot scheme throughout England.

Jo Churchill: We are working closely with NHS England and NHS Improvement to introduce a new dental contract, but no decision has yet been taken on wider roll out. The intention is that the new approach is cost neutral but an assessment of any roll out costs will be part of preparation for any wider roll out. The intention is that any new approach maintains or increases access, improves oral health whilst also being sustainable for dental practices and affordable for the National Health Service.

NHS: Costs

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the annual cost to the NHS is of (a) pharmaceutical drugs, (b) examination gloves, (c) disposable aprons, (d) other medical consumables, (e) medical scanning devices and (f) other equipment.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how NHS Trusts procure (a) pharmaceutical drugs, (b) medical consumables, (c) medical devices and (d) medical equipment; and what happens to those items when they (i) expire, (ii) are decommissioned and (iii) reach the end of their life cycle.

Edward Argar: Expenditure on medicines in 2018/19 financial year in England in primary care and secondary care was £15.4 billion. All National Health Service trusts as autonomous entities record their data locally. NHS Improvement and NHS Digital have been working to centralise purchase order and invoice data centrally to provide better national data visibility on common goods and supplies (everyday hospital consumables; high value healthcare consumables; common goods and capital equipment). Spend is reported by NHS trusts on the NHS Spend Comparison Service for England; common goods and supplies contains £5.6 billion of expenditure. Reviewing the categories requested below within the spend comparison service shows: Expenditure on examination gloves for 2018/19 financial year was £41.7 million; expenditure on disposable aprons was £4.9 million and expenditure on medical scanning devices was £359.5 million. There are no categories on the Spend Comparison Service for ‘other medical consumables’ and ‘other equipment’. The figures above will exclude any spend not reported through the Spend Comparison Service. NHS Trusts are autonomous entities who will make their own procurement decisions based on local pressures and demands. Collaborative procurement is promoted across healthcare to make the most of the NHS budget ensuring value for money is delivered. NHS trusts work with other local hospitals, regional procurement hubs and the national framework organisations that the Department has established - Commercial Medicines Unit and NHS Supply Chain Coordination Ltd for medicines and common goods and supplies respectively – to purchase these supplies. NHS trusts will make individual decisions on what to do with products which expire, are decommissioned or are at the end of their lifecycle. The decision will depend on the value of the asset and whether the asset has any ongoing use. There are charities which will collect expired products for use in third world countries and there are also specialist auctioneers who will sell equipment with residual life and use. Quite often old imaging equipment will be purchased by vets.

Plastic Surgery: Standards

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking against cosmetic surgery clinics that provide substandard care.

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that cosmetic surgery clinics provide a safe standard of care.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care providers, including cosmetic surgery clinics, in England and has a key responsibility in the overall assurance of safety and quality of health and adult social care services. All providers of regulated activities must be registered and follow the set of fundamental standards of safety and quality. The fundamental standards describe the basic requirements that providers should always meet, and outline the outcomes that service users should always expect. The CQC regulates and assesses all providers of regulated activities by looking at five domains – whether they are safe, effective, caring, responsive to people’s needs and well-led. Where the CQC finds cosmetic surgery services are providing substandard care, a range of enforcement powers have been and will continue where necessary to be used against these services. The CQC has a wide range of enforcement powers. These powers include but are not limited to immediate closure of a service, suspending a service, issuing Warning Notices and prosecuting providers.

Hospital Beds

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what comparative assessment he has made of the number of NHS overnight beds available in England from 1 April to 30 June in (a) 2010 and (b) 2019.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Diabetes: St Helens

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that people living in the St Helens borough with diabetes continue to receive the medication they need in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Patients: Safety

Mr Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that patients play an active role in promoting their own safety.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The NHS Patient Safety Strategy, published in July 2019, sets out plans to create patient safety partners – patients, carers, families and lay people involved at all levels in National Health Service organisations - to improve safety. This work includes empowering patients to become active partners in their own safety.The National Patient Safety team is working with patient and public voice representatives and wider NHS stakeholders on a framework for involving Patient Safety Partners. This is expected to be published in 2019/20.

Hospitals: Standards

Mr Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many hospitals were lifted out of special measures in each of the last two years.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Since 2018 the following Trusts have been removed from Special Measures for Quality reasons:- West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust (January 2018);- The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (March 2018);- London Ambulance Service NHS Trust (May 2018);- East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (June 2018);- Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust (January 2019);- Barts Health NHS Trust (February 2019);- Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (May 2019);- Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust (July 2019); and- South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (August 2019).Since 2018 the following Trusts have been removed from Special Measures for Financial reasons:- Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust (July 2018);- Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust (October 2018);- Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (November 2018); and- East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (July 2019).

Surgery: Waiting Lists

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting times were for surgical procedures for (a) knee replacements, (b) hip replacements, (c) melanomas and (d) cataracts in each region in (i) 2010 and (ii) 2019.

Edward Argar: This information is not available in the format requested.

Hounslow Clinical Commissioning Group: Health Visitors

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many full-time equivalent health visitors were employed by Hounslow Clinical Commissioning Group in each year since 2015.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Hounslow Clinical Commissioning Group: Nurses

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many full-time equivalent mental health nurses were employed by Hounslow Clinical Commissioning Group in each year since 2015.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Food: Hygiene

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to bring forward legislative proposals to require food outlets to display food hygiene ratings.

Jo Churchill: The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme is operated by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in partnership with local authorities across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Food businesses covered by the scheme are provided with stickers showing their rating. Those in Wales and Northern Ireland are already required by law to display the stickers at their premises, while those in England are encouraged to do so. The FSA is finalising an evidence-based case for a statutory mandatory display scheme which will be submitted for ministerial consideration and ultimately cross-Government approval.

Influenza: Children

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the availability of flu nasal spray for (a) pre-school and (b) school-aged children in the winter period 2019-20.

Jo Churchill: Overall this season, sufficient flu nasal spray (a live attenuated influenza vaccine - LAIV) has been procured to ensure that all eligible children who present for vaccination can receive it. Deliveries of LAIV are occurring slightly later this season, compared to previous seasons. Available stocks are being managed closely and Public Health England is working with Astra Zeneca and NHS England and NHS Improvement to ensure that all eligible children get their flu vaccine as soon as possible. Children who have underlying medical conditions that make them more vulnerable to flu will be prioritised by general practitioners in the first instance.

Influenza: Children

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the level of take-up of the flu nasal spray among (a) pre-school children and (b) school-aged children.

Jo Churchill: Flu vaccine uptake is closely monitored with weekly publication of data on two and three year olds who are offered vaccine in general practice. Vaccination of these children started later this year because of a delay in availability of the nasal spray vaccine. As a consequence of this delay, the latest provisional data indicates that just under 1% of all eligible pre-school children have received the nasal spray vaccine. We anticipate that the uptake will increase in line with previous years as vaccine becomes available. Data on flu vaccine uptake in school-aged children is collected monthly. The first set of data will be published on 21 November 2019, showing uptake up until 31 October 2019.

Asthma: Prescriptions

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for his policy of the report entitled, A Hidden Harm: Why healthcare professionals want to stop unfair asthma prescription charges published by Asthma UK with the Royal College of Nursing, Association of Respiratory Nurse Specialists and Primary Care Respiratory Society.

Jo Churchill: The Department has no plans to change the list of medical exemptions from prescription charges. Extensive arrangements are already in place to help people access National Health Service prescriptions. These include a broad range of NHS prescription charge exemptions for which someone with asthma may qualify.People on a low income, who do not qualify for an exemption, may be eligible for full or partial help with prescription charges through application to the NHS Low Income Scheme.To support those with the greatest need who do not qualify for an exemption, the cost of the prescription pre-payment certificates has been frozen for another year. A holder of a 12-month certificate can get all the prescriptions they need for just £2 per week.

Prime Minister

Prime Minister: Written Questions

Deidre Brock: To ask the Prime Minister, if he will provide Answers to Questions (a) 287656, (b) 287662 and (c) 287663 on Prorogation tabled on 5 September 2019.

Boris Johnson: I refer the Hon Member to the statement given by my Rt Hon Friend the Attorney General on 25 September 2019 (official report ref). https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2019-09-25/debates/F3541B98-D4E9-487F-BE17-D51C6EF870F2/LegalAdviceProrogation

Department for Work and Pensions

Maternity Allowance

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make it her Department's target to process maternity allowance claims within 24 working days.

Mims Davies: The recovery plan is to return to the aim of clearing Maternity Allowance claims within 24 working days.

Maternity Allowance

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 17 October 2019 to Question 58 on the fast tracking of emergency cases of maternity allowance, how emergency is defined in that instance.

Mims Davies: In this case emergency cases are considered to be: Victims of Domestic ViolenceHomelessnessRisk of eviction. However, each case is considered on it’s own merit, taking into account an individual’s circumstances, age of claim etc.

Universal Credit

Neil Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department's report entitled, In-Work progression trial: further impact assessment and cost benefit analysis, what the point-in-time progression measures were for the (a) 52- and (b) 78-week periods by (i)  gender and (ii) self-reported ethnic background of trial participants.

Mims Davies: Holding answer received on 28 October 2019



The 52-week In-Work Progression Trial Impact Analysis was published on 12th September 2018 on GOV.UK. In the trial, the Frequent support group had Work Coach appointments every fortnight, while the Minimal support group only ever had two appointments in total. i) Gender The 52-week point-in-time progression measure for males was an additional £4.21 per week for the Frequent support group relative to the Minimal support group. For females, the point-in-time progression measure was an additional £5.99 per week for the Frequent support group relative to the Minimal support group. These progression estimates were calculated from samples and the difference of £1.78 is not statistically significant. The conclusion is that there does not appear to be evidence of a difference in progression between genders. The 78-week point-in-time progression measure for males was an additional £1.34 per week for the Frequent support group relative to the Minimal support group. For females, the point-in-time progression measure was an additional £6.14 per week for the Frequent support group relative to the Minimal support group. Again, these estimates are based on samples and the difference of £4.80 is not statistically significant. The conclusion is that there does not appear to be evidence of a difference in progression between genders. ii) Ethnicity The Department holds some data about ethnicity. Of the self-reported ethnic backgrounds, 82% of trial participants were of a White background; 6% of participants were of a Black/African/Caribbean background; 5% were of an Asian background and 7% were made up of other ethnic backgrounds. The Department has not calculated ethnicity sub-group progression measures. The small sample sizes in all other ethnicity groups, with the exception of the White background group, means that any comparisons of progression would not lead to statistically robust conclusions.

Zero Hours Contracts

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people employed on zero-hour contracts in each (a) nation and (b) region of the UK in each year since 2010.

Mims Davies: The independent Office for National Statistics (ONS) use the Labour Force Survey (LFS) to provide estimates for the number of people in employment on contracts that do not guarantee minimum hours (known as ‘zero hours’ contracts’). This data is available for the Oct-Dec quarter only for each year from 2010 to 2018 and is set out in the table below.  Table: Level and rate of people aged 16 and over on zero-hours contracts October to December each year UK, not seasonally adjustedPercentage of people in employment on a zero-hours contract20100.620110.620120.820131.920142.320152.520162.820172.820182.6Source: ONS Labour Force SurveyThe estimates for 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 are considered precise ONS advise that the increased media coverage of zero-hours’ contracts arrangements in the latter half of 2013 may have affected the response to this question by raising awareness of this existing type of contractual arrangement. The ONS therefore advise not to compare pre- and post-2013 data. Data for England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales and the English regions has been published every six months by ONS for since 2016. However, because the data is drawn from a survey, many of these sub-UK breakdowns are considered too unreliable for practical purposes. Regional data and guidance on its reliability can be found in tab 4 of table EMP17 published here:https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/datasets/emp17peopleinemploymentonzerohourscontracts/current

Offshore Industry: North Sea

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with (a) Cabinet colleagues and (b) representatives of the duty holders of the Thistle oil platform on the evacuation of all workers from the Thistle oil platform to the Dunlin Alpha platform in the North Sea on 21 October 2019.

Mims Davies: The Secretary of State has not had any recent discussions on this matter. The Health and Safety Executive is currently investigating the reasons for the evacuation of the Thistle oil platform. While the investigation is on-going it would be inappropriate to comment further.

Oil Rigs: North Sea

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has discussed with the Health and Safety Executive the evacuation of all workers from the Thistle oil platform to the Dunlin Alpha platform in the North Sea on 21 October 2019; and if she will make a statement.

Mims Davies: The Health and Safety Executive is currently investigating the reasons for the evacuation of the Thistle oil platform. While the investigation is on-going it would be inappropriate to comment further.

Oil Rigs: North Sea

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the evacuation of all workers from the Thistle oil platform to the Dunlin Alpha platform in the North Sea on 21 October 2019, when the subsea structure of the Thistle oil platform was due the next mandatory safety inspection by the Health and Safety Executive.

Mims Davies: The offshore regulatory regime does not place duties on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to carry out mandatory inspections. HSE inspects duty holders’ arrangements for managing major accident risks. HSE carried out an inspection of EnQuest’s management of the structural integrity of its Thistle installation in December 2018. Based on the results of the inspection, HSE had planned a follow-up inspection for November 2019. This follow up has been postponed because of the need to investigate the structural integrity issues that led to the evacuation of the workers on 21 October 2019.

Oil Rigs: North Sea

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Health and Safety Executive has provided guidance or advice to EnQuest on conducting preliminary safety inspection of subsea structures of their North Sea assets in the last six months.

Mims Davies: The Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) last planned inspection of EnQuest’s management of the safety of its subsea structures was in December 2018. Following that inspection, HSE had planned an inspection in November 2019 to evaluate the progress EnQuest had made with its subsea structural analyses and monitoring arrangements. However, this has been postponed as HSE is currently investigating the reasons for the evacuation of EnQuest’s Thistle installation. The investigation findings will inform HSE’s future inspections with EnQuest.

Oil Rigs: North Sea

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when the Health and Safety Executive plans to complete its investigations into the causes of the recent fires on the (a) Heather Alpha and (b) Tern Alpha North Sea platforms.

Mims Davies: The Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) investigations into both incidents are on-going and have included mobilisation of multi-discipline investigation teams to each installation. The investigations have already required HSE to serve enforcement notices on each of the installations’ respective duty holders. Enforcement notices are published on HSE’s website nine weeks after they are served, unless the duty holder appeals the notices at an Employment Tribunal.

Offshore Industry: Safety

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she last discussed the safety of workers in the offshore oil and gas industry with representatives of (a) trades unions and (b) the oil and gas industry.

Mims Davies: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and trade unions are members of Step Change in Safety (SCiS) which meets regularly to discuss the safety of the workforce in the offshore sector. In September 2019, an event was organised by SCiS to recognise the influence of the elected safety representatives on offshore safety in the 30 years since legislation was enacted mandating their appointment at all installations in the UKCS. HSE provided speakers and logistical support for this event. The event was attended by over 300 people. It was also live broadcasted worldwide, enabling workers on offshore installations and regulators from other countries to participate. HSE officials engage with industry leaders through its membership of Oil and Gas UK (OGUK). At OGUK’s annual safety conference in November 2019, industry leaders will be making a formal commitment to improve their Process Safety Leadership. HSE’s Chair will be speaking at that conference, setting out his expectations for industry leaders, including the need to improve their Process Safety Leadership for the management of major hazard risks.

Maternity Allowance

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, where maternity allowance was administered prior to April 2018.

Mims Davies: Prior to April 2018 Maternity Allowance was processed at Wrexham Benefit Centre and Chesterfield Benefit Centre.

Maternity Allowance

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will list (a) all of the sites where maternity allowance has been administered and (b) the period of time they were administered at those sites.

Mims Davies: Known sites for processing MA and the period that MA was processed at them is as follows: Chesterfield – February 2016 to February 2019Wrexham – 2005 (exact date unknown) to August 2019Birkenhead – From April 2018Walsall – From July 2019St Helens – From August 2019

Department for Work and Pensions: Living Wage

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2019 to Question 3824, what roles are being performed by the 13 departmental staff who are paid below the London Living Wage.

Mims Davies: DWP has 13 individuals paid below the London Living Wage out of a total of 11293 employed within the London pay zones. However, these 13 individuals are paid the National Living Wage. They are all employed in administrative grades; 11 are Administrative Assistants and 2 are Administrative Officers. These grades carry out administrative functions in various job roles across the department.

Pension Credit and State Retirement Pensions: Romford

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many pensioners in Romford constituency (a) receive the basic state pension, (b) receive pension credit and (c) are eligible for pension credit but do not claim it.

Guy Opperman: In February 2019, the number of pensioners in Romford constituency that (a) receive the pre-2016 State Pension is 15,700 and (b) receive Pension Credit is 2,022. The information is published and available at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk The number of pensioners that are eligible for pension credit but do not claim it (c) is only available at national level. Official statistics on the take-up of income related benefits at Great Britain level, including pension credit, can be found in the ‘Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up in 2016 to 2017’ publication: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-2016-to-2017

Local Housing Allowance

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the 2 July 2019 research, Cover the cost: restoring local housing allowance rates to prevent homelessness, commissioned by Crisis on 2 July 2019, if her Department will undertake a cost-benefit analysis to assess the potential effect of restoring local housing allowance rates to the level of the cheapest third of local rents.

Will Quince: We estimate the cost would be about £800 million in 2020/21, excluding any changes in behaviour by tenants and landlords.

Social Security Benefits: Disqualifications

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of hardship payments made by her Department which have been directly attributed to the imposition of benefit sanctions in (a) Vale of Clwyd parliamentary constituency, (b) Wales and (c) the UK in each of the last four years.

Mims Davies: Hardship payments provide financial protection for claimants whose benefit is reduced by a Fraud Loss of Benefit penalty or a Benefit Sanction. For a) and b), the information requested is not readily available at a country or constituency level and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. For c) the requested data is provided for Great Britain in the following two tables for Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) respectively. Please note, figures supplied are derived from data which has not been quality assured to Official Statistics publication standard. These results can change retrospectively as further information is received. They should therefore be treated with caution. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 1,000. JSA - Number of hardship payments awarded as a result of a sanction20152016201720182019 (year to Aug 19)120,00058,00029,00010,000Fewer than 1,000 ESA - Number of hardship payments awarded as a result of a sanction20152016201720182019 (year to Aug 19)4,0002,0001,000Fewer than 1,000Fewer than 1,000 For Universal Credit, the data cannot be disaggregated to identify the hardship payments that have been directly attributed to the application of a benefit sanction from those resulting from a fraud penalty.

Access to Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department has taken to enable Access to Work (a) advisors and (b) assessors to follow-up with claimants to ensure that recommended support has been implemented effectively.

Justin Tomlinson: Access to Work advisers work with customers and their employers where there are difficulties in procuring the support awarded under the grant. Where there is a dispute about whether a piece of equipment should be procured, Access to Work has no legal power to intervene in the dispute. Where there is a dispute between the customer and the employer Access to Work will signpost the customer and their employer to the Government Equalities Office who will advise on matters relating to disputes over reasonable adjustments.

Access to Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department will undertake a review of section 4.05 of the Access to Work Holistic Assessments Provider Guidance, published on 7 August 2019 which states that a report may be deemed not to meet the specified standard (and therefore rejected) if it is evident that the Assessor has been influenced by customer preference and has not considered the minimum requirements.

Justin Tomlinson: DWP is not looking to review paragraph 4.05 of the Access to Work Holistic Assessment Provider Guidance. AtW recognises the importance of the holistic assessment for customers and as a result introduced a measure for quality as part of these new holistic assessments contracts that went live in June 2017. Access to Work advisers and the holistic assessment suppliers will always consider customer preference in determining if similar support is available to the same specification providing a more cost effective solution.

Universal Credit and Welfare State

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when her Department plans to respond to the Work and Pensions Committee’s (a) twenty-seventh report of Session 2017-19, Universal Credit: natural migration, HC 1884 and (b) twenty-eighth report of Session 2017-19, Welfare safety net, HC 1539.

Will Quince: The Department has carefully reviewed the recommendations made by the Work and Pensions Select Committee in both reports. A response to the (b) twenty-eighth report of Session 2017-19, Welfare safety net, HC 1539 was sent on 1 November 2019. The Government’s response to (a) twenty-seventh report of Session 2017-19, Universal Credit: natural migration, HC 1884 will be sent to the Work and Pensions Committee in due course.

Occupational Pensions: Dunfermline and West Fife

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 8 October 2019 to Question 294182, how many employers in Dunfermline and West Fife constituency have not met their duties pertaining to the automatic enrolment of employees in a workplace pension scheme.

Guy Opperman: Automatic enrolment has achieved a quiet revolution through getting employees into the habit of pension saving, and reversing the decline in workplace pension participation in the decade prior to these reforms. Since automatic enrolment started in 2012 participation rates have been transformed with 87% of eligible employees saving into a workplace pension in 2018, up from 55% in 2012. The Department does not hold data for individual constituencies in relation to non-compliance of employers. The Pensions Regulator’s data on automatic enrolment declaration of compliance by constituency is available via the following weblink: https://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/document-library/research-and-analysis/data-requests

Members: Correspondence

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when her Department plans to respond to the email from the hon. Member for Birkenhead on the disability living allowance award of his constituent Ella May Allinson.

Justin Tomlinson: A response was sent to the Rt Hon. Member on Friday 1 November 2019.

Employment: Disability

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Written Statement of 5 March 2019, Health and Disability Announcement, HCWS1376, what progress her Department has made on undertaking a review of the commitment to get more disabled people into work.

Justin Tomlinson: We set out our continued commitment to improving employment rates for disabled people and people with long-term health conditions in Improving Lives: The Future of Work, Health and Disability. The goal is to see an increase in the number of disabled people in work from 3.5 million in Q1 2017 to 4.5 million in Q1 2027. In the first two years of the goal (Q1 2017 to Q1 2019), the number of disabled people in employment increased by 404,000. We welcome the continuing positive trends, and remain committed to unlocking the potential of all disabled people searching for work. We still have a significant way to go before achieving the goal. No single measure can capture everything that we want to achieve and we will continue to monitor improvements in the employment rate gap and other measures alongside the goal.

Part-Time Employment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people working less than 16 hours who wanted to work more in each of the last 10 years.

Mims Davies: I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to PQ 4936 in which I give details, published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), of the number of people whose usual weekly hours are less than six hours, and between 6 and 15 hours. Details are not available for the number of people working less than 16 hours who wanted to work more in each of the last 10 years. ONS does publish some related data: 1) the number of people in employment who want to work more hours, are available for work and are currently working below the hours threshold (40 hours a week for those under 18, 48 hours a week for those aged 18 or over), and 2) people working part-time who gave the reason as “could not find full-time job” as reason for working part-time. The tables below give extracts from the ONS published data, however, both these data series will include both those working less than, and more than, 16 hours a week. Table 1: The number of people in employment who want to work more hours, are available for work and are currently working below the hours threshold DateLevelApr-Jun 20102,754Apr-Jun 20112,841Apr-Jun 20123,061Apr-Jun 20133,090Apr-Jun 20142,977Apr-Jun 20152,786Apr-Jun 20162,601Apr-Jun 20172,460Apr-Jun 20182,390Apr-Jun 20192,479Source: Table EMP16, ONS, Labour Force Survey Table 2: Part-time workers who gave the reason as “could not find full-time job” as reason for working part-timeDateLevel% of all Part Time EmployedApr-Jun 20101,08414.0Apr-Jun 20111,27516.2Apr-Jun 20121,43817.9Apr-Jun 20131,46718.3Apr-Jun 20141,34716.5Apr-Jun 20151,28515.7Apr-Jun 20161,14913.6Apr-Jun 20171,01912.1Apr-Jun 201896811.5Apr-Jun 201990710.6Source: Table EMP01NSA, ONS, Labour Force Survey At UK level people in full-time work have made up over three quarters of the overall increase in employment since 2010.

Personal Care Services: Health and Safety

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with representatives from the Local Government Association on the adequacy of health and safety registration procedures in relation to hair salons.

Mims Davies: We have not had any discussions with representatives from the Local Government Association on the adequacy of health and safety registration procedures in relation to hair salons.

Department for Work and Pensions: Daily Mail and Metro Newspaper

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2019 to Question 323, when he plans to place the memorandum in the Library.

Will Quince: The Department has sent a copy of the memorandum of 2 May 2019 to the House’s Library. We have been advised by the Library that it is currently processing the deposit of this document.

Department for Work and Pensions: Metro Newspaper

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2019 to Question 316, whether the graphics used in the six-week long advertising campaign entitled, Universal Credit Uncovered, in The Metro were designed by (a) staff in her Department or (b) Associated Newspapers.

Will Quince: The information used in the ‘Universal Credit Uncovered’ Metro campaign was sourced by Departmental officials. The campaign graphics were designed by Metro’s in-house design team as part of the Department’s media partnership with them. We went to great lengths to ensure the factual accuracy of the campaign through extensive consultation within the Department, including the Government Legal Department. We also consulted with the Advertising Standards Authority Copy Advice Team prior to the launch and continued to do so throughout the campaign lifetime. The Metro partnership was designed to increase understanding of Universal Credit and ensure people have the right factual information they need to make a claim and understand their potential entitlement.

Children: Maintenance

Caroline Nokes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that non-maintenance-paying parents do not request mandatory reconsiderations from the Child Maintenance Service to continue to avoid making payments.

Mims Davies: All clients, regardless of their role within the scheme, have the right to request a decision be reconsidered by the Child Maintenance Service (CMS). Mandatory reconsideration rights only apply to decisions relating to child maintenance liability. The standard timescale in which a revision may be requested is within 30 days of the date of notification of the decision. Our policy is that a mandatory reconsideration will only happen once in respect of any particular decision, after which a client accrues the right to appeal to an independent tribunal. If a client requests a mandatory reconsideration, their child maintenance liability will remain in place as usual until a decision is made. Where a mandatory reconsideration or appeal is ongoing, the Service will continue to attempt collection of any debt that is not covered by the appeal. The CMS may make a decision to suspend enforcement action on debt which is subject to an appeal, as this may result in reimbursement for the amount collected.

Home Office

Prostitution

Mr Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department plans to publish the report entitled Prostitution and sex work: nature and prevalence in England and Wales.

Victoria Atkins: As part of the Government’s response to the 2016 Home Affairs Select Committee report into prostitution, the Home Office provided £150,000 to fund research specifically into the nature and prevalence of prostitution in England and Wales.This independent research was led by the University of Bristol and will enable us to inform an objective evidence base before we can consider any changes to policy and legislation in respect of prostitution.The report was published on 30 October and is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nature-of-prostitution-and-sex-work-in-england-and-wales

Immigration: Fees and Charges

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to undertake a review of the fees charged for immigration applications.

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has plans to undertake a review of  the fees charged to university staff from outside the EU for visa applications.

Victoria Atkins: The Borders, Immigration and Citizenship System (BICS) is predominately funded by the user, and we think it is right that those who use it contribute to its cost, thereby reducing the burden on the UK taxpayer. We keep our fees for immigration and nationality applications under review and ensure they are within the parameters agreed with HM Treasury and Parliament, as set out in Section 68 (9) of the Immigration Act 2014.

Visas: Australia

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has plans to extend the upper age limit of the working holidaymaker visa scheme between the UK and Australia.

Seema Kennedy: Tier 5 Youth Mobility Schemes provide a cultural exchange programme that allows young people aged 18 to 30 from participating countries and territories to experience life in the UK for up to two years. In return, qualifying UK citizens enjoy similar access to our partner countries.We have no current plans to increase the upper age limit of the scheme between the UK and Australia.

Cannabis: Licensing

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many licences for the cultivation of high THC cannabis are in effect in the UK; and how many have been awarded in the past 12 months.

Kit Malthouse: There are currently 19 licences in extant that have been issued in the last 12 months to cultivate high THC cannabis in England, Wales and Scotland.The licences are issued for a validity of one year.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time to process an application to the EU Settlement Scheme is.

Brandon Lewis: The following link lists the expected processing times for EU Settlement Scheme applications, based on current performance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/eu-settlement-scheme-application-processing-times/eu-settlement-scheme-pilot-current-expected-processing-times-for-applications.Our aim is to process all applications to the Scheme as expeditiously as possible. The majority of applications are concluded within 5 working days. However, it is likely to take longer in the following instances:Further information is required from an applicant;If the applicant is applying as a minor and or the application is not linked to an adult;If the applicant has submitted a paper application;If the applicant has a relevant criminal record;If the applicant is a non-EEA or non-Swiss citizen and are applying based on a relationship not relied on in a previous application to the Home Office.Overall, the total number of applications that have been concluded, as of 30 September 2019, was more than 1.5 million (1,524,500). Of these, 61% were granted settled status, 38% were granted pre-settled status.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the eligibility criteria are for existing family members when applying for settled status after 31 December 2020 but before 29 March 2022.

Brandon Lewis: The Government’s priority remains to leave the European Union with a deal.In the event that we leave the EU without a deal, the EU Settlement Scheme will continue to operate for EU citizens resident here by exit. They would be able to be joined in the UK under the scheme, by 29 March 2022, by existing close family members (spouses, partners, children, parents and grandparents), where the relationship existed by exit (or where a child was born overseas after this date) and continued to exist when the family member applied.Details of the policy on citizens’ rights in a no deal Brexit were published on 6 December 2018 and are available here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/policy-paper-on-citizens-rights-in-the-event-of-a-no-deal-brexit.Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules HC 170, which would implement the relevant changes to the EU Settlement Scheme in the event of a no deal Brexit, was laid before Parliament on 24 October 2019 and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statement-of-changes-to-the-immigration-rules-hc-170-24-october-2019.

Immigration: EEA Nationals

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the criminality checks would be for EEA citizens seeking to migrate to the UK in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Brandon Lewis: In circumstances where the United Kingdom has withdrawn from the European Union without a deal, EU citizens who move to the UK and wish to stay beyond 31 December 2020 will need to apply for European temporary leave to remain.Applicants will be required to declare whether they have criminal convictions in the UK or abroad. We will carry out criminality and security checks on all applications including checks against UK police databases as well as Home Office watch-lists.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to hold a public consultation on the operation of the European temporary leave to remain scheme.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what consultations she has (a) held and (b) plans to hold with relevant industry and citizens' rights groups on the operation of the European temporary leave to remain scheme.

Brandon Lewis: The Government does not plan to undertake a public consultation on the European Temporary Leave to Remain Scheme, the proposed arrangements for which were set out on 4 September 2019 and are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/eu-immigration-after-free-movement-ends-if-theres-no-deal.However, the overall policy and approach have been discussed with internal and external stakeholders, such as groups representing employers, EU citizens in the UK, Consulates and community organisations, and account has been taken of those discussions.

Refugees: EU Grants and Loans

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of replacing EU funding for refugee services through the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund with Government funding in the event that the UK leaves the EU.

Victoria Atkins: All projects under Asylum, Migration and Integration (AMIF) will continue to receive funding for the lifetime of their projects, even if the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Migrant Workers: Latin America

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle labour exploitation of nationals of Latin American countries living in the UK.

Victoria Atkins: The Government is committed tackling labour exploitation. Through the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and the Immigration Act 2016 we have given law enforcement bodies stronger powers to tackle labour exploitation.Law enforcement agencies continue to work closely to investigate all reported cases of labour exploitation, which can involve different communities in the UK, including nationals of Latin American countries.We recently published our Annual Modern Slavery Report for 2019, which sets out work that has been undertaken over the last year to tackle modern slavery in the UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/2019-uk-annual-report-on-modern-slavery.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what date the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration's report entitled EU Settlement Scheme follow up, received by her Department on 30 September 2019, will be published.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Secretary is considering the ICIBI report on the EU Settlement Scheme and it will be laid in Parliament in due course.

Home Office: Written Questions

Mr Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to answer Question 2871 tabled on 21 October 2019 by the hon. Member for Luton South.

Victoria Atkins: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 04 November 2019.The correct answer should have been:

As part of the Government’s response to the 2016 Home Affairs Select Committee report into prostitution, the Home Office provided £150,000 to fund research specifically into the nature and prevalence of prostitution in England and Wales.This independent research was led by the University of Bristol and will enable us to inform an objective evidence base before we can consider any changes to policy and legislation in respect of prostitution.The report was published on 30 October and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nature-of-prostitution-and-sex-work-in-england-and-wales.The response for UIN 2871 was answered on 4th November 2019.

Victoria Atkins: As part of the Government’s response to the 2016 Home Affairs Select Committee report into prostitution, the Home Office provided £150,000 to fund research specifically into the nature and prevalence of prostitution in England and Wales.This independent research was led by the University of Bristol and will enable us to inform an objective evidence base before we can consider any changes to policy and legislation in respect of prostitution.The report was published on 30 October and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nature-of-prostitution-and-sex-work-in-england-and-wales.The response for UIN 2871 was answered on 4th November 2019.

Hate Crime

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2019 to Question 4283 on Hate Crime, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of the (a) language and tone of public statements made by and (b) the actions of public figures on trends in the level of recorded hate crime.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office and key partners continue to build understanding of the drivers of hate crime through research and evaluation of hate crime programmes, and consultation with subject matter experts including the Independent Advisory Group and local practitioners. Alongside the Hate Crime Action Plan refresh in October 2018 the Government published a thematic review of the current evidence base – this can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hate-crime-action-plan-2016.

Home Office: Written Questions

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to answer Name Day Question 511 on Immigration: EU Nationals which was tabled on 15 October 2019.

Brandon Lewis: The response for UIN 511 was answered on 31st October 2019.

Human Trafficking

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of National Referral Mechanism referrals receive negative Reasonable Grounds decisions for (a) people in immigration detention and (b) people outside of immigration detention.

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of National Referral Mechanism negative Reasonable Grounds decisions are (a) reconsidered and (b) judicially reviewed for (i) people in immigration detention and (ii) people outside of immigration detention.

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data her Department holds on the outcomes of (a) reconsideration requests and (b) judicial reviews as a result of a negative reasonable grounds decision through the National Referral Mechanism.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office publishes quarterly statistics regarding the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-referral-mechanism-statistics-quarter-2-2019-april-to-june and the UK Annual Report on Modern Slavery which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/2019-uk-annual-report-on-modern-slaveryThis information does not distinguish between those detained under immigration powers and those living in the community. The reason for this is two-fold, firstly because the NRM referral is not an immigration route by which individuals should regularise their stay in the United Kingdom and secondly, because a person’s status in immigration detention is not permanent and can change. The use of immigration detention in all cases is subject to regular reviews.Requests for reconsideration of negative reasonable grounds decisions are taken in line with the published policy which can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/828756/victims-modern-slavery-competent-auth-v8.0.pdfWhere an individual considers that a National Referral Mechanism decision has been made incorrectly, the decision can be challenged by way of Judicial Review.It is not possible to distinguish solely from reportable database fields without a manual review of individual records the number of requests for reconsideration that were rejected because they were not in line with policy, the number of requests for reconsideration that were refused due to insufficient grounds for reconsideration. It is also not possible to distinguish solely from reportable database fields whether a reconsideration case type was the result of a reconsideration request as defined in the published policy, the result of litigation including judicial review or the result of the reconsideration of a suspended case.

Members: Correspondence

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will investigate what happened to the personal documents of Shahnaz Saeed (B17209/19), which were mailed to her legal representatives on 16 August 2017 Royal Mail Reference Number: BY018153568GB.

Seema Kennedy: Officials have provided an explanation to the hon. Member on this individual case.

Musicians: Visas

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of agreeing a two-year, multi-entry touring visa on a reciprocal basis with the EU in order to preserve touring as economically viable for UK musicians.

Seema Kennedy: We will announce the details of the UK’s future immigration system early next year.We recognise that international collaboration plays a vital part in the contribution that the creative industries make to the UK’s rich culture and economy. The future system will work in the best interests of the whole of the UK, including that of the creative sector.

Immigration: France

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking ensure that her Department's technology used in the EU settlement scheme application process accurately reads female French biometric passports that place their holder’s maiden name first.

Brandon Lewis: I am aware of instances where EU citizens who were granted leave under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) had their maiden names recorded on their digital status instead of their married names. Some EU countries, including France, issue passports that record a spouse’s family name alongside the person’s maiden name. The spouse’s name is not included in the passport’s Machine-Readable Zone, which means it is not automatically recorded and the passport does not indicate which name the applicant is using for all official purposes.Home Office policy on names requires individuals to use one name for all official purposes. This is to prevent identity-enabled criminality, such as fraud, terrorism and sexual offences.We are currently exploring options to enable applicants granted leave under the EUSS to be able to have their married name displayed on their digital status.

British Nationals Abroad: Syria

John Lamont: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to prepare for the return of British children trapped in north-east Syria.

Victoria Atkins: There may be British children in Internally Displaced Persons camps in Syria, who because of their age, are innocent victims of the conflict, however, the process of providing any assistance is extremely complex. If we become aware of British unaccompanied or orphaned children or if British children are able to seek consular assistance, then we will work with the local and UK authorities to facilitate their return if feasible.Children returning from Syria are likely to have been exposed to the conflict and to have experienced trauma. In some circumstances they may also pose national security concerns that need to be carefully managed. A range of specialised support – some of which is funded directly by the Home Office – is offered to address concerns ranging from safeguarding to national security. Our support will be tailored to the needs of each individual child.

National Fraud Intelligence Bureau: Standards

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the findings of Which?'s investigation into Action Fraud, published in October 2019 relating to the performance of the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau.

Brandon Lewis: The Home Office is aware of various allegations in the press about Action Fraud and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau within the City of London Police. The government remains committed to improving the law enforcement response to fraud. This is why we requested that Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) conduct a thematic inspection on fraud to ensure our response is meeting the needs of fraud victims. The City of London Police (as the National Lead Force for fraud) is currently implementing recommendations within HMICFRS’ inspection report.The Home Office will monitor delivery of HMICFRS’ recommendations through its Economic Crime Delivery Board (chaired by the Permanent Secretaries of the Home Office and HMT) and Economic Crime Strategic Board (chaired by the Home Secretary and the Chancellor).

Home Office: Written Questions

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason she has submitted an answer to Named Day Question 697, tabled on 15 October 2019.

Seema Kennedy: The answer described that the timetable for taking delivery of the final report forms part of ongoing discussions between the Department and the office of Wendy Williams.

Visas

Sir Alan Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people submitted visa applications using the Super Priority visa service in the last complete financial year for which information is available; and how many of those applicants who were eligible received a visa within the 24-hour period guaranteed by that service.

Seema Kennedy: The Home Office does not publish the information requested.Available information on visas and service standards can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data.

UK Border Agency

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the role is of the Command and Control Unit; and which government agencies have access to data through that unit.

Seema Kennedy: The Immigration Enforcement National Command and Control Unit (IE NCCU) is the IE 24/7 point of contact for all UK Police Forces. The unit is staffed by Immigration Officers who provide advice on the immigration status of individuals. When appropriate the team initiate immigration enforcement action, safeguard vulnerable individuals, refer cases to and signpost Police partners to other Home Office Teams. NCCU is also the central point of contact for IE critical incident coordination.The following partners have varying levels of access/services through the NCCU:UK Police ForcesHM Revenue and CustomsJudiciary, including the Procurator FiscalLocal Safeguarding Children PartnershipsNational Crime AgencyUnseen (Modern Slavery Helpline)

Northern Ireland Office

Public Expenditure: Northern Ireland

Gavin Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps Northern Ireland Government Departments have taken to encourage the use of Financial Transactions Capital.

Julian Smith: In 2012-13, the UK Government introduced Financial Transactions Capital (FTC). FTC is designed to stimulate private sector investment in projects that benefit the region, over and above the level of investment made by the Executive from its Departmental Expenditure Limits. FTC funding is allocated to the Devolved Administrations, which has discretion over its allocation to projects. The Department of Finance in Northern Ireland has provided the following information which sets out the allocation decisions for this year. Further information on how the NI Civil Service encourages the use of FTC can be requested from the Department of Finance in Northern Ireland. FTC Allocations2019-20Invest NI - Agri-Food Loan Scheme1,000Invest NI - Growth Loan Fund2,400Invest NI Other Projects4,225Northern Ireland Science Park3,190Higher Education63,483Co-Ownership Housing26,244NI Investment Fund30,000Housing for people with learning disabilities10,000Total Projects:140,542

Treasury

Treasury: International Men's Day

Philip Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans his Department has to mark International Men's Day on 19 November 2019.

Mr Simon Clarke: No one should suffer unfair treatment because of their gender. Every year International Men’s Day offers an opportunity to highlight how outcomes for men and boys can be improved and to talk about some of the important work going on every day across Government to do this. The work ranges from the introduction of shared parental leave, which allows men to take time away from the workplace and bond with their new children, benefitting that crucial long-term relationship for both parent and child, to our programme tackling LGBT bullying in schools which seeks to protect those who may be victimised by outdated and stereotypical ideas of what it means to be a ‘real man’. Government is also working with local authorities to ensure their suicide prevention plans support more men, and in the Domestic Abuse Bill we propose to create a statutory definition of domestic abuse that makes clear men also can be victims of this abhorrent crime.

Coinage

Tom Brake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of producing 50 pence coins to commemorate the UK leaving the EU on 31 October 2019.

John Glen: We do not comment on the cost of producing coins as this is commercially sensitive information. The cost of producing these coins will be partially offset by the value gained from recycling them.

Coinage

Tom Brake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of melting down the 50 pence coins produced to commemorate the UK leaving the EU on 31 October 2019.

John Glen: We do not comment on the cost of producing coins as this is commercially sensitive information. The cost of producing these coins will be partially offset by the value gained from recycling them.

Carbon Emissions

Giles Watling: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps his Department is taking to support the UK's transition to a low-carbon economy; and what his policy is on the future of carbon pricing in the UK.

Mr Simon Clarke: The UK is the G20 leader in reducing the carbon intensity of its economy, and is using a range of policy levers – including spending and taxes – to support the UK’s transition to a low-carbon economy. The Clean Growth Strategy set out significant investment by the Government in decarbonisation including £2.5 billion to support low carbon innovation from 2015-2021, £4.5bn to support development of renewable and low carbon heating through the Renewable Heat Incentive and £1 billion to support the uptake of ultra-low emissions vehicles. In addition, government has supported the deployment of renewable electricity projects, with annual consumer support now reaching over £10bn. HMT has accepted the Committee on Climate Change’s (CCC) recommendation to conduct a review into the costs and benefits of transitioning to a net zero economy. The Review will consider how to achieve this transition in a way that works for households, businesses and public finances. Carbon pricing has helped to drive down UK emissions, in particular from the power sector, and will continue to play an important role to help meet the UK’s legally binding carbon reduction commitments, which are unaffected by leaving the EU. The government is considering long-term options for carbon pricing including the possibility of linking a UK greenhouse gas emissions trading system with the EU ETS. As announced at Budget 2018, in the event the UK leaves the EU without a deal, the Carbon Emissions Tax would be introduced.

Customs: Northern Ireland

Tom Brake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the cost to (a) businesses and (b) the public purse of the customs checks to be implemented between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK under the Prime Minister's EU Withdrawal Agreement; and what the timeframe is for the implementation of those customs checks.

Jesse Norman: As a responsible government, the Government will take into account both the internal cost and the cost to business to deliver on all aspects of the Withdrawal Agreement. The Government’s impact assessment for the Withdrawal Agreement Bill sets out the direct impacts of the revised Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol (published on 17 October 2019) in relation to the movement of goods between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. Initial delivery assessments were a key consideration during the negotiations. Some changes will be needed to government and trade systems and processes in order to implement this arrangement and the Government will engage closely with affected businesses to ensure that delivery of any new requirements can take place as quickly and smoothly as possible.

Competition and Markets Authority

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much funding was allocated to the Competition and Markets Authority; and how many staff were employed in that organisation in each of the last five years.

Rishi Sunak: The annual average number of staff employed by the CMA in each of the last five years is listed in their annual reports as follows: Year14-1515-1616-1717-1818-19Total594661589628747 Budget allocated to the CMA, as published at Main Estimates in each of the last five years is below. Year14-1515-1616-1717-1818-19Total (£,000)70,36174,254147,12677,226119,726

Public Expenditure: Northern Ireland

Gavin Robinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government have taken to encourage Northern Ireland Government Departments through (a) the Programme for Government and (b) other initiatives to (i) use and (ii) maximise Financial Transactions Capital to deliver departmental objectives with third party organisations and partners.

Rishi Sunak: The Treasury sets the Northern Ireland administration’s overall Financial Transaction Capital budget through the normal operation of the Barnett formula. The allocation and use of Financial Transactions Capital is a devolved function and a matter for the Northern Ireland administration. Further to this funding, the UK government is committed to supporting the Northern Ireland economy. This is demonstrated, for example, by the £400m the government is investing in City Deals for Belfast and Derry/Londonderry and Strabane City Region.

Employment: Taxation

Christian Matheson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the potential reduction in the number of contracting roles as a result the roll-out of the off-payroll rules.

Jesse Norman: The off-payroll working rules (sometimes known as IR35) have been in place since 2000. They are designed to ensure that individuals working like employees pay broadly the same amount of tax and NICs, regardless of the structure they work through. They do not affect the self-employed. In 2017 the Government reformed the way the rules operate in the public sector in order to address widespread non-compliance. Evidence shows that compliance is improving without reducing the flexibility of the labour market. Budget 2018 announced that the reform would be extended to all sectors, but not until April 2020, giving businesses more time to prepare. The Government has consulted extensively on the reform and HMRC are rolling out guidance as well as an education and support programme. On 11 July 2019, HMRC published a Tax Information and Impact Note setting out the costs to business and individuals of the reform. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rules-for-off-payroll-working-from-april-2020/rules-for-off-payroll-working-from-april-2020.

Revenue and Customs: Staff

Martyn Day: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of HMRC staff employed at Easter Inch Steading, Bathgate, that will transfer to the UK Government Hub in Edinburgh; and if he will make a statement.

Martyn Day: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what (a) financial and (b) other support the Government plans to provide to staff made redundant by HMRC at Easter Inch Steading, Bathgate, to help them obtain alternative employment.

Jesse Norman: HMRC expect the majority of staff in Bathgate (Pyramids Business Centre) to relocate to the Edinburgh Regional Centre when the office closes in September 2020. One-to-one meetings between staff and managers, to discuss personal circumstances and support packages tailored to individual needs, commenced in September 2019 and are still in progress. The precise number of staff who can transfer will be known when the outcomes of these meetings have been collated. HMRC will support people who are unable to move to work through all possible options, including helping them to find another role and offering advice and training on applying for jobs. HMRC have regular conversations with the Scottish Government and have a close working relationship with the Department for Work and Pensions in the West Lothian area. HMRC will continue to scope redeployment opportunities for their staff, using a simplified application process where possible. HMRC are committed to supporting their people and in July 2019 HMRC published a People and Equality Impact Assessment: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/817787/People_and_Equality_Impact_Assessment_-_Locations_Programme__2019_.pdf. The document sets out the actions HMRC are taking across the UK to minimise the impacts on their people.

Fuels: Excise Duties

Alan Brown: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much fuel duty was paid from sales of fuel in Kilmarnock and Loudoun in each year since 2010.

Mr Simon Clarke: Duty is collected when fuel leaves a refinery or import terminal. It is not collected at the petrol pump. Therefore the requested information is not held and HMRC cannot provide an estimate of the fuel duty paid from sales of fuel in Kilmarnock and Loudoun. For more information on fuel duty, see the OBR page on the tax here:https://obr.uk/forecasts-in-depth/tax-by-tax-spend-by-spend/fuel-duties/

Mortgages

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of existing mortgage prisoners that could benefit from the rule changes announced by the FCA on 28 October 2019.

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he will take to ensure that his officials contact existing vulture funds operating in the UK to ensure compliance with the new FCA regulations on mortgage prisoners.

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with representatives of groups acting on behalf of mortgage prisoners on the effect of the announcement made by the FCA on 28 October 2019.

John Glen: I am aware that customers who are unable to access cheaper mortgage deals are in a difficult and stressful situation. Taking action to remove unnecessary regulatory barriers that have prevented some customers from switching has been a priority for me and so I welcome the changes the FCA have made to their mortgage lending rules. This change in the FCA’s rules should allow customers to switch to a new lender as long as they meet the lender’s risk appetite. This is determined by the lender and will take into account the circumstances of individual customers, which may include being up to date with their payments; not having significant other debt; and not being in negative equity. Due to the uncertainty of lender’s risk appetites or the number of consumers who will choose to use the new switching opportunities, it is impossible to know precisely how many mortgage prisoners will be helped by the rule change until lenders are able to report progress to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Part of the FCA’s action to support mortgage prisoners is ensuring that borrowers, whose mortgage is currently held by an unregulated entity, are proactively contacted about this rule change. Inactive lenders and administrators acting for unregulated entities are now required to implement a communication strategy for relevant customers to inform them of the rule change within the next 10 months. The FCA ran a consultation on the rule changes and thoroughly considered representations from various interested parties before implementing the changes in October. Most recently, I have met with Andrew Bailey, Chief Executive of the FCA, where we agreed to continue to collaborate and engage to support mortgage prisoners moving forward. In addition, I have met specifically with MPs for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on mortgage prisoners and numerous other MPs who, representing their constituents, have wished to discuss mortgage policy.

Electronic Funds Transfer: Fraud

Chris Elmore: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits of the UK Finance proposal for a Faster Payment Scheme Change Request to provide a long-term sustainable funding system for reimbursing of victims of authorised push payment fraud.

John Glen: The Government takes Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud extremely seriously. Victims and their families can suffer both serious financial and emotional harm and it is right that industry takes the necessary steps to protect consumers. The Payment Systems Regulator, which was set up by the Government in 2015, established a steering group to develop a voluntary industry Code of good practice that set the circumstances in which customers will be reimbursed if they fall victim to these kinds of scam. The Code became effective on 28 May 2019. Pay.UK, under whom the Faster Payments Scheme sits, have consulted on the Change Request, which would introduce a levy on Faster Payments transactions for the reimbursement of victims in the long-term. The final decision sits with Pay.UK and it would not be appropriate for the Government to comment on the specifics of this proposal.

Public Expenditure: Northern Ireland

Gavin Robinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what (a) practical, (b) financial and (c) other support Northern Ireland Government Departments have provided to applicants in preparing their applications, designs, cost planning, option appraisals, business cases and green book appraisals for Financial Transactions Capital funding.

Gavin Robinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the profiled budgets are for Financial Transactions Capital funding in each Northern Ireland Government Department in each of the next five years.

Rishi Sunak: The Treasury sets the Northern Ireland administration’s overall Financial Transaction Capital budget through the normal operation of the Barnett formula. The allocation and use of Financial Transactions Capital is a devolved function and a matter for the Northern Ireland administration. This includes determining Northern Ireland departmental budget profiles and providing support for applicants for Financial Transactions Capital funding.

Treasury: Digital Technology

Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who is responsible for digitisation in his Department; and what mechanisms the person with responsibility for digitisation uses to champion digitisation.

Mr Simon Clarke: HM Treasury does not provide digital services to citizens, outside of information published to www.gov.uk. In this, we are fully engaged with the work of GDS in its continuing transformation to “digital by default”. The Head of Digital Communications in the Communications team is responsible for maintaining and cultivating the relationship with GDS.

Money Laundering: South Sudan

Catherine West: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to issue a public advisory to UK financial institutions investing in South Sudan of the risk of  money laundering in relation to South Sudanese politically-exposed persons.

John Glen: The Government is committed to supporting an end to the conflict in South Sudan, including through stemming illicit financial flows which drive destabilisation and conflict in the region. The Government will continue to assess potential additional measures aimed at stemming illicit financial flows from South Sudan in order to support the peace process. The Government’s Money Laundering Regulations 2017 require financial institutions to apply enhanced due diligence measures commensurate with money laundering risks with regard to new or ongoing business. This includes, where appropriate, consideration of relevant factors such as jurisdictional risk and the involvement of politically exposed persons.

Cash Dispensing: Fees and Charges

Tom Brake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of interchange fee reductions on the number of free-to-use ATMs.

Tom Brake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of interchange fee reductions on the number of free-to-use ATMs.

John Glen: The Government has not carried out a formal assessment of the effect of interchange fee reductions on the number of free-to-use ATMs. Although the management and deployment of ATMs is a commercial matter for ATM market participants, the Government recognises that widespread access to cash remains extremely important to the day-to-day lives of many consumers and businesses in the UK. The number of free-to-use ATMs increased for over a decade up to 2017, with the majority of ATMs clustered in areas of high demand and footfall. LINK, the scheme that runs the UK’s ATM network, saw this situation as unsustainable. Therefore, in January 2018, LINK announced reductions to the interchange fee, while taking steps to preserve the broad geographic spread of free-to-use ATMs. This included protections for remote free-to-use ATMs, one kilometre or further from the next nearest free-to-use ATM or Post Office. In July 2018, LINK responded to lower transaction volumes at ATMs by cancelling the third reduction of interchange fees due in January 2020 and putting on hold the 4th reduction that was due in January 2021. More recently, LINK committed to protecting free access to cash on high streets – where there are five or more qualifying retailers – and announced £1 million to fund requests for new ATMs from local areas with poor access to cash. Furthermore, UK Finance – the trade association for the UK banking and financial services sector – has launched a Community Access to Cash Initiative, offering grants to local communities to improve cash access. As of June 2019, there were 48,500 free-to-use ATMs in the UK, which represented 78% of the total number of ATMs. This remains 21% higher than a decade ago.

Tobacco: Smuggling

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the capability of  software providers for the Track and Trace system on tobacco products to fulfil economic operator obligations to scan and record the movement and sale of tobacco; and if he will make a statement.

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of tobacco (a) manufacturers, (b) wholesalers and (c) retailers compliance with The Tobacco Products (Traceability and Security Features) Regulations 2019; and if he will make a statement.

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether HMRC will publish guidance for businesses on complying with the requirements of the Tobacco Track and Trace system to (a) scan the movement of and (b) record the sale of tobacco through the supply chain; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Simon Clarke: Economic operators are responsible for ensuring that they have the necessary software capability to comply with the track and trace obligations. As these are contractual relationships between economic operators and their software providers, HMRC has no plans to make any assessment of their capability.Since the track and trace system came into force on 20 May, over 38,000 businesses have registered as an economic operator, and over 61,000 premises. Following engagement with the tobacco industry, HMRC assess this represents good coverage of the number of businesses expected to register. As there is a 12-month sell through period for old stock, marked stock that needs tracking and tracing is only just appearing in the UK. During this period, HMRC’s priority has been to educate and support businesses as they familiarise themselves and adapt to the new requirements.Guidance on the tracking and tracing requirements is available on www.gov.uk. The mechanics of how businesses scan movements and record sales is not prescribed as this will depend on the type of equipment used and the systems operated by individual businesses.

Bank Services

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with representatives of retail banks on maintaining a physical network of banks for customers that do not use digital services.

John Glen: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with many organisations in the public and private sectors on a variety of issues. Though I can understand the disappointment felt in a community when a bank branch closes, the decision to maintain a presence on the high street is a commercial one for the management team of a bank and Government does not intervene in those decisions. The retail financial landscape is changing, as more consumers and businesses opt for the convenience, security, and speed of digital payments and digital banking. Banking service providers need to balance customer interests, market competition, and other commercial factors when considering their strategy. However, the Government also firmly believes that the impact of branch closures should be understood, considered, and mitigated where possible so that all customers, wherever they live, continue to have access to over-the-counter banking services if they wish to use them. That’s why the Government supports the industry’s Access to Banking Standard which helps customers to understand the options they have locally to continue to access banking services, including specialist assistance for customers who need more help. Alternative options include the Post Office, which allows 95% of business and 99% of personal banking customers to carry out their everyday banking at 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK. I also recently visited a trial Business Banking Hub being run by NatWest, Lloyds Bank and Barclays in Birmingham and I will continue to encourage banks to think creatively about how they can ensure that consumers can access a wide range of banking services on a sustainable basis.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Culture, Practices and Ethics of the Press Inquiry

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when the second part of the Leveson inquiry into regulation of the press will be commenced; and if she will make a statement.

Nigel Adams: The government announced in 2018 that it would not be taking forward Part 2 of the Leveson Inquiry. The Inquiry and subsequent police investigations were comprehensive. More than 300 people gave evidence to the Inquiry, and over 40 people were convicted during the three major investigations. The media landscape has changed significantly since Part 1 of the Inquiry. Reopening the Inquiry would cost millions, and we believe it is no longer appropriate, proportionate, or in the public interest to do so. There have been extensive reforms to policing practices, as well as significant changes to press self-regulation.

Radio: Licensing

Mr Edward Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department has taken to bring forward the legislation required to secure the renewal of analogue FM and AM commercial radio licences simulcasting on DAB.

Mr Edward Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans her Department has to publish a timetable outlining the steps required to secure secondary legislation in order that analogue FM and AM commercial radio licences simulcasting on DAB will be uninterrupted before they are due to expire.

Nigel Adams: The government supports a strong and vibrant radio sector and we fully recognise the important role that both national and local commercial stations broadcasting on analogue (FM and AM) frequencies and on DAB play in providing the widest possible choice for listeners. The first of the analogue commercial radio licences renewed by Ofcom under the Legislative Reform (Further Renewal of Radio Licences) Order 2015 will start to expire in early 2022. We plan to consult on the options of a further renewal of these licences as soon as possible.

Loneliness

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress her Department has made on including loneliness in the guidance her Department issues on the family test.

Nicky Morgan: My Department does not issue guidance on the Family Test. However, the Department for Work and Pensions is currently refreshing the government guidance on the Family Test which is due to be published shortly. I can confirm that loneliness will be included in the updated guidance.

Toys and Games: Safety

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to include the harm caused to consumers by unsafe toys sold on online marketplaces in the Government’s online harms framework.

Matt Warman: The Government is committed to ensuring that only safe products are sold to UK consumers, particularly for vulnerable consumers including children. There are stringent requirements for manufacturers to ensure products placed on the market are safe. The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) has been established to provide leadership of the consumer product safety system and is undertaking a programme of work on the safety of products sold online. The Online Harms White Paper states that the scope of the regulatory framework and duty of care "will include companies from a range of sectors, including social media companies, public discussion forums and retailers that allow users to review products online". It also includes the sale of illegal goods and services on the open internet as a proposed area in scope of regulatory activity. We are currently analysing all responses to the White Paper's public consultation, and considering the issues raised. The Government will publish its response to the consultation in the coming months, following that, we will publish draft legislation for pre-legislative scrutiny.

Lotteries: Regulation

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the oral statement of 16 July 2019 by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Official Report, column 718, on Lotteries Regulation, when she plans to lay the statutory instrument to implement the society lotteries reforms as set out in that statement.

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the oral statement of 16 July 2019 by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Official Report, column 718, on Lotteries Regulation, what further steps she plans to take to implement the society lotteries reform as set out in that statement.

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the oral statement of 16 July 2019 by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Official Report, column 718, on Lotteries Regulation, when she plans (a) to announce further progress towards implementing the society lotteries reforms announced in that statement and (b) for legislation relating to those reforms to come into force.

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the oral statement of 16 July 2019 by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Official Report, column 718, on Lotteries Regulation, when she plans to announce further progress on implementing the (a) per-draw sales limit to increase to £5 million, (b) maximum prize limit to increase to £500,000 and (c) annual sales limit to increase to £50 million for society lotteries.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the oral statement of 16 July 2019 by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Official Report, column 718, on Lotteries Regulation, whether the new limits on annual turnover for society lotteries will come into force by 1 January 2020.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the oral statement of 16 July 2019 by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Official Report, column 718, on Lotteries Regulation, when she plans to implement the new annual turnover limits for society lotteries.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the oral statement of 16 July 2019 by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Official Report, column 718, on Lotteries Regulation, when she plans to bring forward secondary legislation to increase annual turnover limits.

Helen Whately: New limits to the per draw sales, annual sales and maximum prize for society lotteries were announced on 16 July 2019. Affirmative secondary legislation is required to change the limits, and the Gambling Commission are also required to consult on changes to their Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP). The date for laying the statutory instrument has not yet been fixed. The Gambling Commission’s consultation will also cover measures to improve transparency of society lotteries, and is expected to run for 12 weeks. The changes are expected to come into force during 2020.

Lotteries: Regulation

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the oral statement of 16 July 2019 by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Official Report, column 718, on Lotteries Regulation, if she will publish the (a) scope and (b) timescales of (i) her Department’s consultation on the appropriate regulatory regime for society lotteries and (ii) the Gambling Commission’s consultation on the licensing framework for large society lotteries.

Helen Whately: New limits to the per draw sales, annual sales and maximum prize for society lotteries were announced on 16 July 2019. Affirmative secondary legislation is required to change the limits, and the Gambling Commission are also required to consult on changes to their Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP). The date for laying the statutory instrument has not yet been fixed. The Gambling Commission’s consultation will also cover measures to improve transparency of society lotteries, and is expected to run for 12 weeks. The changes are expected to come into force during 2020.

Lotteries: Licensing

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate she has made of the cost of taking out an additional licence where a society lottery reaches the £10 million annual turnover limit.

Helen Whately: The De Minimis Assessment published alongside the Government’s consultation response sets out our assessment of the impacts on the sector and can be found here : https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/817542/Final_Society_lottery_reform_DMA_JUNE_2019.pdf.

Lotteries

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate she has made of the number of society lotteries that are close to reaching the £10 million annual turnover limit.

Helen Whately: The Gambling Commission’s advice to DCMS on reforms to society lotteries sets out the number of lotteries within 20% of the current limits. This remains the most recent data available and shows that in 2016, 27 operators (just over 6%) were within 20% of the annual limit. The Gambling Commission’s advice has been published on their website and can be found here: http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/PDF/consultations/Society-lottery-advice-provided-to-DCMS-002.pdf

Lotteries: Regulation

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the oral statement of 16 July 2019 by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Official Report, column 718, on Lotteries Regulation, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of  a delay to the introduction of the new annual turnover limits beyond 1 January 2020 on (a) the hospice sector, (b) the air ambulance sector and (c) local charities.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the oral statement of 16 July 2019 by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Official Report, column 718, on Lotteries Regulation, if she will take steps to ensure that undertaking a consultation on a regulatory framework for society lotteries does not lead to a delay in implementing changes to their annual turnover limits.

Helen Whately: The Government announced plans to raise sales and prize limits for large society lotteries in July 2019. The timeframe to introduce the new annual turnover limit is subject to the requirement for 1) the affirmative procedure of introducing secondary legislation and 2) the Gambling Commission to consult on changes to their Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP). Taking these requirements into account we expect this change to come into force during 2020. We have not made an assessment of the impact of this timing on the sector.

Mobile Phones: Bishop Auckland

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what her timescale is for provision of total mobile network coverage in Bishop Auckland constituency; and which operator will provide the network in that constituency.

Matt Warman: On 25 October 2019, the Government announced in-principle support for a Shared Rural Network (SRN) programme, which is a proposal from the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to collectively increase 4G mobile coverage throughout the United Kingdom to 95% by 2025, underpinned by a legally binding coverage commitment from each operator to have reached more than 92% by 2026. The Government’s in-principle support remains subject to detailed negotiations with the MNOs, but our ambition is to reach a formal agreement on the SRN in the coming months. The exact site deployment plans and timescales will be managed by the MNOs themselves in order for them to best deliver the agreed coverage outcomes. So until the operators’ final radio planning exercise is complete, neither the Government nor the operators will know the precise location or number of new or upgraded masts. However, the operators will be consulting with local communities as they do so. The MNOs’ intention is to deliver this programme by the end of 2025.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Drax Power Station: Carbon Emissions

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment the Government has made of the environmental impact of the four new gas-fired turbines at Drax power station.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much CO2 is expected to be produced by the four new gas-fired turbines at Drax power station over their lifetime.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment the Government has made of the effect of four new gas-fired turbines at Drax power station on the UK’s ability to reach climate targets set by the Paris Agreement and the Government’s plan to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Kwasi  Kwarteng: In taking the decision to grant development consent for the gas turbines at the Drax Power Station, my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State considered the impacts of the proposed development against a range of receptors and all other relevant issues. The Secretary of State concluded that the potential benefits of the development outweighed any potential adverse impacts. Her conclusions are set out in the decision letter available on the Planning Inspectorate’s website at:https://infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/projects/yorkshire-and-the-humber/drax-re-power/ The Planning Inspectorate’s Report to the Secretary of State on the application for development consent for the gas-fired turbines at Drax Power Station states that the total figure for greenhouse gas emissions over the operational lifetime of the project would be 287.568m tonnes (assuming the project is built out in full and operates with 100% loading factor). The Planning Inspectorate’s Report concluded that there was no evidence that granting development consent for the development would in itself lead to a breach of her statutory duties under the Climate Change Act 2008 or any other legislation. Similarly, in concluding that development consent should be granted, the Secretary of State considered that there was no evidence that doing so would lead to a breach of the United Kingdom’s international obligations. The Planning Inspectorate’s Report on the application for development consent is also available on the Planning Inspectorate’s website.

Environment Protection: Investment

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps she is taking to encourage green investment in Romford constituency.

Kwasi  Kwarteng: The Government is committed to driving green investment across the country. The Green Finance Strategy sets out our approach to accelerating green finance, including strengthening engagement with local actors to accelerate green investment across the country. BEIS has supported Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) in England to develop an energy strategy for their area and also helps Local Authorities and LEPs identify viable energy projects. The Greater London Authority is responsible for the London LEP, including the Romford constituency.

Regulatory Policy Committee

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, on what occasions the Regulatory Policy Committee has not rated a regulatory proposal following its assessment.

Nadhim Zahawi: Holding answer received on 28 October 2019



The better regulation framework sets out the grounds on which the independent Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC) can rate an impact assessment. The RPC has only published an assessment without a rating once (for the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill). Relating to the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill, the independent Regulatory Policy Committee noted that it appreciates the assessment the Government has provided and recognises that the analysis undertaken is the best possible in the time available.

Regulatory Policy Committee

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the timetable is for the Regulatory Policy Committee to review its rating of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill.

Nadhim Zahawi: Holding answer received on 28 October 2019



The Regulatory Policy Committee’s (RPC) opinion on the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill was published on 21 October 2019 and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/eu-withdrawal-agreement-bill. Under the better regulation framework the RPC would be expected to review a revised impact assessment if there are changes to the legislative proposals that would significantly change the impacts on business.

Post Office: Credit Cards

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Post Office is accredited under the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 29 October 2019



The Government recognises the critical role that post offices play in communities and for small businesses across the UK. This is why the Government committed to safeguard the post office network and protect existing rural services. The overall number of post offices across the UK remains at its most stable in decades with over 11,500 branches thanks to significant Government investment of over £2 billion since 2010.While the Government sets the strategic direction for the Post Office, it allows the company the commercial freedom to deliver this strategy as an independent business. Whether the Post Office is accredited is an operational matter for Post Office Limited. I have therefore asked Nick Read the Group Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the hon Member on this matter. A copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Renewable Energy

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether she has plans to undertake a Contract for Difference allocation round for Pot 1 technologies.

Kwasi  Kwarteng: The Government continues to consider this issue carefully and will update the House in due course.

Solar Power: VAT

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment her Department has made of the effect of changes to rate of VAT for solar energy on trends in the level of uptake of (a) photovoltaic and (b) battery storage.

Kwasi  Kwarteng: The UK was required to make these changes to comply with EU legislation. Energy savings materials can still qualify for the reduced 5% rate of VAT if they meet certain criteria, including where materials costs are less than 60 per cent of total installation costs. We estimate that the majority of standalone solar installations will fall below this threshold and will therefore be unaffected. Standalone batteries were not previously eligible and therefore are also unaffected. Batteries installed at the same time as solar are more likely to exceed this threshold and therefore be affected. We do not hold data on the uptake of domestic battery installations. Once we have left the EU there may well be opportunities to amend the VAT treatment of low carbon technologies to ensure we can set the rates we consider are most appropriate.

Fuel Poverty

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate she has made of the number of households in fuel poverty in each (a) nation and (b) region of the UK in each of the last 10 years.

Kwasi  Kwarteng: Fuel poverty is a devolved issue, with each nation in the UK having its own fuel poverty definition, targets and policies to tackle the issue. The number of households in fuel poverty in England between 2003 and 2017 (latest data) can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fuel-poverty-trends-2019. For Scotland, data from 2011 to 2017 (latest data) can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-house-condition-survey-2017-key-findings/pages/6/ ForWales, latest published data (for 2018) can be found here: https://gov.wales/fuel-poverty-estimates-wales-2018 For Northern Ireland, data for 2006, 2009 and 2011 can be found here: https://www.ninis2.nisra.gov.uk/public/SearchResults.aspx?sk=fuel;poverty; Latest available figures (for 2016) can be found here: https://www.nihe.gov.uk/getmedia/1f9e55a1-66c2-46b7-bf92-9ee192ce355f/estimates-of-fuel-poverty-northern-ireland-2017-and-2018-revised.pdf.aspx?ext=.pdf The number of households in fuel poverty for each region in England can be found in Table 4 here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fuel-poverty-trends-2019. Please note that due to both definition and methodological differences, the figures should not be combined.

Electricity Generation: Carbon Emissions

Giles Watling: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans the Government has to support electricity network companies as they work to enable the transition to a low carbon economy.

Kwasi  Kwarteng: Government expects network companies to work with Ofgem, the independent regulator, to ensure a settlement for the upcoming set of energy network price controls which is fair to investors and consumers, including in relation to Government’s net zero and clean growth ambitions. Network regulation is a matter for Ofgem. By law, Government has no role in this process. Ofgem has recently taken steps in this regard. In August 2019 Ofgem published an open letter, asking network companies across all sectors to clearly propose and evidence how their business plans for the next price controls are able to adapt to support delivery of the net zero target. Final business plans for electricity transmission will be submitted to Ofgem in December, with determinations to be made by the regulator in 2020 ahead of those new price controls starting in April 2021. Ofgem has also published an open letter consultation on the proposed framework for the next electricity distribution price control starting two years later in April 2023. In this letter Ofgem states it is considering including a more direct link between network company revenues and the achievement of outcomes outside the delivery of traditional network services, for example the decarbonisation of transport and/or heat. Ofgem expects to confirm its decision on the framework that will apply in December, with further detailed consultation of key regulatory policy areas and approaches, including decarbonisation, scheduled for 2020.

Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when she plans to put the Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority on a statutory basis.

Kelly Tolhurst: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Office for Product Safety and Standards

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much funding was allocated to the Office for Product Safety and Standards; and how many staff were employed in that organisation in each of the last five years.

Kelly Tolhurst: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Consumers: Protection

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary for State of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the cost to the public purse was of all departmental and non-departmental public body spending on (a) consumer protection, (b) product safety and (c) consumer enforcement from 2010 to 2019.

Kelly Tolhurst: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Consumers: Protection

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the cost to the public purse has been of all departmental and non-departmental public body spending on (a) consumer protection, (b) product safety and (c) consumer enforcement to prepare for the UK leaving the EU.

Kelly Tolhurst: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Nuclear Power

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate she has made of the amount of power that will be available through nuclear generation in 2050.

Nadhim Zahawi: We are going to need a substantial increase in low carbon generation to reduce emissions to net zero by 2050. Nuclear power currently provides around 20% of our electricity generation and is likely to have an important role in delivering a low cost, stable, reliable, lowcarbon system in 2050.

Freedom of Establishment and Free Movement of Services (EU Exit) Regulations 2019

Christine Jardine: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment she has made of the effect of the Freedom of Establishment and Free Movement of Services (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 on the right to deliver services of EU and EEA business owners resident and operating in the UK.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Freedom of Establishment and Free Movement of Services (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 will not have any impact on the ability of EU and EEA business owners resident and operating in the UK to deliver their services on exit.

Green Deal Scheme

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many people were recruited on to the Green Deal Apprenticeship Scheme.

Kwasi  Kwarteng: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Digital Technology

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, who is responsible for digitisation in her Department; and what mechanisms the person with responsibility for digitisation uses to champion digitisation.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and its partner organisations have digital strategies exploring opportunities to transform services using modern technologies and aligning with the objectives in the Single Departmental Plan and the Secretary of State’s agreed priorities. We make use of agile project management methodologies and work closely with our colleagues at the Government Digital Service to ensure we are using best practice service design techniques, creating the digital services that citizens and businesses need the most. The core Department takes a blended approach to resourcing digital projects with work performed by in-house teams, externally-sourced teams or a combination of these depending on the skills required for a given project.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Housing: Young People

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the final report from the Young people's future health inquiry entitled A healthy foundation for the future published in October 2019, what steps the Government is taking to provide young people with (a) good quality and (b) secure housing.

Esther McVey: Holding answer received on 22 October 2019



The government is committed to helping young people succeed and is setting out a vision for young people over the next generation and beyond. At the heart of this is ensuring that young people have the security and opportunities they need from the stability of a safe and secure home.That is why we have taken a range of actions to ensure that houses are of good quality for future generations by strengthening the wording of the revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), published in July 2018. Local planning authorities are expected to have planning policies which identify the size, type and tenure of homes needed by different groups in the community, including students, those who are in need of affordable housing and families with children. The guidance also encourages plan-making authorities to consider how people’s housing needs will change over-time. Furthermore, the revised NPPF has a dedicated chapter to promote healthy and safe communities through the provision of safe and accessible green infrastructure.

Housing: Disability

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to address the finding of the report entitled Insight report: a forecast for accessible homes, published by Habinteg in June 2019, that one per cent of homes outside London will meet Building Regulations Approved document M Volume 1 M4(3) wheelchair accessible housing standard by 2030.

Esther McVey: On 25 June, the Prime Minister announced that government will consult on mandating higher accessibility standards for new housing, recognising that too many disabled people still live in unsuitable homes. We will bring forward the consultation on improving accessibility standards at the earliest opportunity, ensuring it happens as part of our full review of Part M of the Building Regulations. Habinteg’s report is important evidence which we will look at carefully as part of our review. New Planning guidance was published on 26 June to support councils to put clear policies in place for addressing the housing needs of older and disabled people.Also announced on 25 June was a new cross-government disability team that will alongside the Government Equalities Office and Race Disparity Unit in a new Equalities Hub at the heart of government. This team will work closely with disabled people, disabled people’s organisations and charities to develop a new approach to disability, with their views and experiences at the forefront of any new policy.

Housing: Sales

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Government is taking steps to limit the number of properties bought as investments rather than as homes or rental properties.

Esther McVey: Holding answer received on 28 October 2019



This government is determined that the housing market works for everyone. That is why we are considering all levers at our disposal, including reforms to the planning system, to increase the supply of discounted homes for local people to buy, as well as increasing the supply of homes overall.We have also taken steps to reduce the numbers of long-term empty homes in England by bolstering local authorities powers and incentives to tackle empty homes. Local authorities have the discretion to increase the maximum level of premium charged on properties that have been empty for more than two years from 50 per cent to 100 per cent extra council tax. There are now 83,813 fewer empty homes than in 2010.

Affordable Housing

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2019 to Question 886 on Affordable Housing, what his timescale is for decisions on additional investment beyond the current Affordable Homes Programme.

Esther McVey: Holding answer received on 28 October 2019



The government has affirmed its commitment to invest in affordable housing beyond March 2022 through the announcement of £2 billion funding for long-term strategic partnerships with housing associations. My Department and HM Treasury are working closely to determine the precise timescale by which further investment beyond the current Affordable Homes Programme will be announced MHCLG officials regularly meet with HM Treasury officials to discuss matters related to the supply of affordable housing. Decisions about additional investment beyond the current Affordable Homes Programme will be announced at a future fiscal event.

High Rise Flats: Insulation

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the number of flat-owners in residential blocks who have been unable to sell or remortgage their home because of the presence of flammable cladding.

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the (a) advice and (b) correspondence that his Department has received on the estimated number of residential tower blocks where properties have been made unsaleable due to the requirements set out in Advice Note 14.

Esther McVey: Holding answer received on 28 October 2019



The government is working with industry to understand the scope and scale of the issue. This includes supporting the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), and ensuring that wider industry gain greater information and assurance about the external wall systems of high-rise residential buildings.

Affordable Housing

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing rent freezes to maintain affordable housing for low-income households.

Esther McVey: Holding answer received on 28 October 2019



The government does not favour the introduction of caps on private rents as this could restrict investment in the private rented sector. From 1915 to the late 1980s, successive governments implemented policies to control or restrict private rents, which coincided with the decline in the private rented sector from nine-tenths of the housing stock in 1915 to one tenth in 1991.   Rent caps have lead to worse property conditions for tenants by discouraging investment in existing accommodation.

High Rise Flats: Safety

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much funding from the affordable homes budget has been allocated to tower block safety measures since the Grenfell fire.

Esther McVey: Holding answer received on 28 October 2019



The government have committed £600 million for the remediation of buildings with unsafe Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding. Of this, £400 million has been allocated from the current Affordable Housing Programme to fund Social Sector Cladding Remediation, and will be returned to the Affordable Housing Programme in 2021/22.

Social Rented Housing: Wycombe

Mr Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will meet Wycombe social housing providers to discuss the effect of abolishing section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 on innovative housing providers in the Wycombe constituency.

Esther McVey: Earlier this year, the government announced its commitment to improve security for renters, and intends to introduce a new, fairer deal for both tenants and landlords.As part of this new deal, the government has agreed to consult on repealing Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988. This would provide tenants with greater security in their homes because landlords would not be able to end a tenancy without a specified reason.Our consultation, ‘A New Deal for Renting: Resetting the balance of rights and responsibilities between landlords and tenants’ sought views from across the private and social rented sectors on how the new system should operate, including whether the reforms proposed (including the use of section 21 notices) should extend to all users of the Housing Act 1988, including social housing providers. As part of the consultation process my officials met with a number of housing associations, including some who operate in the Wycombe area, and discussed how a more effective system can be developed that works for everybody.The consultation has now closed and we are carefully considering the more than 20,000 responses received. We will publish our response in due course, setting out how the new system will work and our next steps.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Brexit

Ms Lisa Forbes: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has for (a) two and (b) three shift patterns of working for staff in his Department in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Jake Berry: The Department’s Operations Centre (DOC) which will manage and lead the preparations and response to a no deal exit was formally activated in the period 21-28 October 2019 and two shift working was in operation during that period.   We consider this shift pattern will be sufficient to effectively manage a no deal exit in the majority of circumstances. In the event a no deal exit occurs with multiple event occurring at the same time, we would introduce three shift working to effectively manage a reasonable worst case scenario.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Staff

Ms Lisa Forbes: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the total staffing costs of (a) two and (b) three shift patterns of working by staff in his Department for a three month period.

Esther McVey: The total additional estimated staffing costs for MHCLG staff involved in a two shift pattern over three months is £402,000. If a three shift system was required over the same period the total additional staffing cost is estimated to be £696,000.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Staff

Ms Lisa Forbes: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has conducted a risk assessment for (a) Departmental staff and (b) the Department of shift working patterns.

Jake Berry: No specific or additional risk assessment has been conducted in relation to staff undertaking normal hours working in our Departmental Operations Centre (DOC). Our existing health and safety policies ensure that we will continue to exercise our duty of care and appropriately safeguard the health and well-being of our staff. We have conducted a specific risk assessment of night working and have put in place the necessary measures to advise and support staff in these circumstances. We have also provided specific advice and support on the complete range of issues associated with shift working e.g. travelling late at night and have also provided additional well-being training for staff working in our DOC.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Brexit

Ms Lisa Forbes: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether Departmental workstreams have ceased or are planned to cease as a result of Departmental staff being allocated to work on preparations for the UK leaving the EU.

Jake Berry: As we stepped up work on our no deal preparations we had to pause some of our other work. In doing this we ensured that we had protected our most vital work on: promoting home ownership, levelling up opportunities across the country, putting local government finance on a sustainable footing, tackling rough sleeping, promoting integration and improving the provision of English Language and addressing the issues exposed by the Grenfell Tower tragedy, in particular on Building Safety.

Housing: Construction

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure new build homes are built according to electrical and fire safety requirements.

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to ensure developers comply with fire and electrical safety requirements for new build homes.

Esther McVey: The primary responsibility for compliance with the Building Regulations, including fire and electrical safety, rests with the person carrying out the building work. This is the builder or developer. Most building work is subject to building control either by the local authority or a private approved inspector, on a spot-check basis. It is the responsibility of the building control body to take all reasonable steps to assess compliance. However, responsibility for compliance remains with the builder or developerOn 5 July 2019, the government published a clarified version of Approved Document B (the approved document to the building regulations on fire safety) that aims to improve usability and reduce the risk of misinterpretation by those carrying out and inspecting building work.We recently consulted on how we propose to take forward legislative reform for building and fire safety in higher-risk residential buildings implementing recommendations made by Dame Judith Hackitt’s Independent Review. We committed in the Queen's Speech to bring forward legislative reform.

Leasehold

Mr Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on the viability of the leasehold sector of (a) regulating professional freeholders and (b) removing the financial value of ground rents; and if he will make a statement.

Esther McVey: For many years leasehold developments have existed with peppercorn ground rents. In line with usual practice, the government’s intention would be to publish an impact assessment on zero ground rents for future leases, as part of taking primary legislation through Parliament.In addition, Lord Best’s working group advising government on the regulation of property agents, which reported on 18 July, proposed that government consider extending regulation to freeholders. We are carefully considering all the recommendations in the report and will announce next steps in due course.

Local Plans: Oxfordshire

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with officers of local councils in Oxfordshire on Oxfordshire County Council potentially taking over responsibility for South Oxfordshire District Council's local plan.

Esther McVey: Holding answer received on 31 October 2019



The Secretary of State has not held any discussions with officers of local councils in Oxfordshire on Oxfordshire County Council potentially taking over responsibility for South Oxfordshire District Council’s local plan.

Leasehold

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what his timescale is for bringing forward legislative proposals on leasehold reform.

Esther McVey: The government is committed to reforming the leasehold market so that it is fairer for consumers. This includes banning new leasehold houses, unless there are exceptional circumstances, and reducing ground rents for both houses and flats to zero We will also give freeholders on private and mixed-tenure estates the right to challenge the reasonableness of these charges and the ability to apply to the First tier Tribunal to appoint a new property manager We will bring forward the legislation to implement these changes as soon as parliamentary time allows.

Social Rented Housing: Pets

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Government plans to bring forward legislative proposals to make it easier for tenants in rented accommodated to have pets.

Esther McVey: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Help to Buy Scheme

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the (a) projected annual net costs of Help to Buy from its inception until 2021-22 as set out in the original business case, (b) actual annual net costs from inception until 2018-2019 and (c) current estimated net costs until 2021-22.

Esther McVey: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Prefabricated Housing

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment criteria were used to determine the distribution of the £38 million fund supporting modular construction; whether the assessment criteria and associated weighting were determined before applications were invited; on what date those criteria were determined; whether Ministers had a role in the selection process; and if he will make a statement.

Esther McVey: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Planning: Fees and Charges

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to make an announcement on the uplift in planning fees; for what reason that announcement has not yet been made; and if he will make a statement.

Esther McVey: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Social Rented Housing: Regulation

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Government plans to create a new consumer regulator for social housing with powers for monitoring and enforcement.

Esther McVey: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Digital Technology

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, who is responsible for digitisation in his Department; and what mechanisms the person with responsibility for digitisation uses to champion digitisation.

Jake Berry: GDS leads the digital function across government. Each Department has individuals responsible for leading digital in their respective Departments.In MHCLG the Chief Digital Officer is Paul Maltby.The mechanisms used to develop digital maturity are as follows:We have a controls process in place to adhere to GDS and Cabinet Office standards.We procure or build office IT and digital services.We offer a User Centred Design team to design digital products and processes for the department.We have teams working jointly with policy officials and local government to build digital maturity and the digital transformation of land planning and housing sectorsWe hold regular digital showcases and show and tell events attended by a large cross section of the department to help build digital capability and awareness.

Local Government: Ethics

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has plans to bring forward legislative proposals to implement the recommendations in the report entitled, Local Government Ethical Standards published by the Committee on Standards in Public Life on 30 January 2019.

Luke Hall: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Buildings: Insulation

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many (a) council owned and (b) housing association buildings have received funding from the Government’s £400 million social sector ACM cladding remediation fund; and how many of those buildings have had such cladding replaced.

Esther McVey: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Homelessness

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy to (a) provide permanent homes to people living in temporary accommodation and (b) end other forms of homelessness; and if he will make a statement.

Luke Hall: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Housing: Standards

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, what recent estimate he has made of the total number of households in the UK that are resident in homes which are not fit for human habitation.

Esther McVey: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Ministry of Defence

Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers: Swindon

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reason the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Corps have moved to the former Clares factory in Swindon.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The property in question was temporarily used by troops from the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers as part of Exercise Iron Viper 2019 which ran from 23 September to 3 October. The exercise was a routine test of the Army's logistical and technical support capabilities which also involved units from the Royal Engineers, Royal Corps of Signals, Royal Logistic Corps and Royal Army Medical Corps. To achieve realism, the exercise utilised both the Defence estate and private land, including a number of sites in urban areas.

Saudi Arabia: Military Aid

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish the agreement between the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia governing the British Military Mission to the Saudi Arabian National Guard.

Mark Lancaster: The 1964 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia governs the British Military Mission to the Saudi Arabian National Guard. This is a confidential agreement between two sovereign states which the United Kingdom Government is unable to publish without the permission of Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are not prepared to authorise the publication of bilateral MOUs.

Saudi Arabia: Military Aid

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the internal security training provided by the British military mission to the Saudi Arabian National Guard comprises; and whether riot control is included in that training.

Mark Lancaster: The British Military Mission provides a variety of training to the Saudi Arabian National Guard, including occasional internal security training which includes a public order element.The British Military Mission provides training in appropriate and proportionate use of force, the rules of engagement, human rights compliance and de-escalation procedures in line with the principles of Her Majesty's Government's Overseas Security and Justice Assistance assessment.

Saudi Arabia: Military Aid

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the British Military Mission to the Saudi Arabian National Guard advises the latter on operations related to the conflict in Yemen.

Mark Lancaster: The British Military Mission to Saudi Arabia do not advise the Saudi National Guard on operations in Yemen.

Ministry of Defence: Digital Technology

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, who is responsible for digitisation in his Department; and what mechanisms the person with responsibility for digitisation uses to champion digitisation.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The Director General, Chief Information Officer (CIO), is responsible for digital maturity in the Ministry of Defence.The CIO has mechanisms in place across defence to ensure that we regularly exploit modern digital opportunities to improve the outputs of defence. These mechanisms include a pan-Defence Digital & IT (D&IT) Coherence Board, a single D&IT Transformation programme, innovation centres of expertise and the maintenance of common IT architectures and standards.

Ministry of Defence: Harrow East

Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department made of the effect on the local economy in Harrow East constituency of (a) spending and (b) investment by (i) his Department and (ii) the armed forces since 2015.

Douglas Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the local economy in Moray constituency of (a) spending and (b) investment by (i) his Department and (ii) the armed forces since 2015.

Alan Mak: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has of the effect on the local economy in Havant constituency of (a) spending and (b) investment by (i) his Department and (ii) the armed forces since 2015.

Kirstene Hair: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the local economy in Angus constituency of (a) spending and (b) investment by (i) his Department and (ii) the armed forces since 2015.

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the local economy in Chatham and Aylesford constituency of (a) spending and (b) investment by (i) his Department and (ii) the armed forces since 2010; and if he will place that information in the Library.

Giles Watling: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the local economy of Clacton constituency of (a) spending and (b) investment by (i) his Department and (ii) the armed forces since 2010; and if he will place that information in the Library.

Harriett Baldwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the local economy of West Worcestershire constituency of (a) spending and (b) investment by (i) his Department and (ii) the armed forces since 2010; and if he will place that information in the Library.

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the local economy in North East Hampshire constituency of (a) spending and (b) investment by (i) his Department and (ii) the armed forces since 2015.

Mary Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment has his Department has made of the economic effect on the local economy of (a) spending and (b) investment allocated by his Department to Cheadle since 2010.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The Ministry of Defence's (MOD) over-riding priority is to provide national security for the UK as a whole and its extensive regional footprint exists to provide UK national security.Spending or investment decisions are appraised on the basis of costs and benefits to UK society overall irrespective of the location of the expenditure, as required by HM Treasury Green Book.The department does not routinely undertake assessments of the effect of national spending or investment decisions on local economies.MOD Regional Expenditure with UK Industry and Commerce and Supported Employment is published at the Government Office Regional level as a National Statistic at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/774871/Finance_and_economics_annual_statistical_bulletin_201718.pdf

Army: Training

Mr Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average cost of training soldiers is from basic training to completion of trade training is for (a) REME Recovery mechanics; (b) Royal Signals Communication System Operators, (c) Infantry Soldiers and (d) RLC Driver.

Johnny Mercer: The average cost of basic training for a Regular soldier attending the Army Training Centre (Pirbright) is estimated at £38,100. In addition, the estimated cost for providing initial trade training for a Royal Logistic Corps Driver is £23,700. Infantry soldiers complete their training at the Infantry Training Centre, Catterick as a combined Basic and Initial Trade Training course, with an estimated cost of £67,400. This is for Line Infantry soldiers only and does not include those training for the Parachute, Guards or Gurkha Regiments.Work to verify costs for courses at the Defence College of Technical Training is ongoing. Therefore, comparable costs for those completing their Initial Trade Training as a Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Recovery Mechanic or Royal Signals Communications System Operator are not currently available.

Military Aircraft: Helicopters

Mr Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the ratio of maintenance hours to flown hours is for the (a) AgustaWestland Apache AH1, (b) AgustaWestland AW159 Wildcat, (c) Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin II and (d) Westland Gazelle.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The table below shows the ratio of maintenance hours to flying hours from April 2018 to March 2019 for the Apache, Wildcat and Gazelle helicopter fleets:TypeApacheWildcatGazelleTotal29:132:112:1  Dauphin II is maintained via civilian contract on an availability basis and figures are not measured in the same way.Numbers are rounded to the nearest hour.Figures provided are based on single service estimates, and are not official statistics produced by Defence Statistics.

Scotland Office

Scotland Office: Digital Technology

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, who is responsible for digitisation in his Department; and what mechanisms the person with responsibility for digitisation uses to champion digitisation.

Mr Alister Jack: The Office does not have a dedicated member of staff wholly responsible for digitisation. The Office works closely with the Government Digital Service (GDS) to make a wide range of digital information available to the public through gov.uk and the www.deliveringforscotland.gov.uk microsite also provides clear digital routes to many key public services provided by the Government.

Department for International Trade

Arms Trade: Turkey

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many licences for the export of military material from the UK to Turkey have been suspended since 9 October 2019; what equipment those licences were for; and what the financial value of those licences was.

Graham Stuart: I refer the Hon. Member for Glasgow South to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Glasgow South West on 24 October 2019, UIN: 2890.

Trade Agreements: China and Hong Kong

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of inserting human-rights related clauses into future trade deals with China or Hong Kong.

Conor Burns: The UK has a strong history of protecting human rights and has long supported the promotion of our values globally. We are committed to upholding the UK’s high standards and this will continue as we leave the EU. The Government’s priorities for free trade agreements are currently the United States, Australia and New Zealand.

Manufacturing Industries: USA

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the Channel 4 Dispatches programme of 28 October 2019, on what dates did meetings take place between officials at her department and US pharmaceutical firms.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the Channel 4 Dispatches programme of 28 October 2019, which companies were represented at the meetings that took place between officials in her Department and US pharmaceutical firms.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the Channel 4 Dispatches programme of 28 October 2019, whether (a) she, (b) Ministers in her Department or (c) officials in her Department initiated the arrangement of the meetings between officials in her department and representatives of US pharmaceutical firms.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the Channel 4 Dispatches programme of 28 October 2019, whether Ministers from her Department were present at the meetings between officials from her Department and representatives of US pharmaceutical firms.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the Channel 4 Dispatches programme of 28 October 2019, if she will publish the expenses incurred by her Department in relation to the meeting between officials in her Department and US pharmaceutical firms.

Conor Burns: Departmental officials and Ministers regularly meet with businesses and stakeholders across a range of sectors in both the US and UK. The government has been clear that the NHS is not, and never will be, for sale to the private sector, whether overseas or domestic‎. The government will continue to ensure that patients have access to the medicines they need, and that decisions on how to run public services are made by the UK government and the Devolved Administrations, not our trade partners.

Trade Agreements

Mr Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, when she plans to open trade negotiations (a) bilaterally with the US, (b) for the UK’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, (c) bilaterally with Japan, (d) bilaterally with Australia, (e) bilaterally with New Zealand, (f) with Mercosur, (g) bilaterally with other individual countries and (h) multilaterally through the WTO.

Conor Burns: Our priority is to be in a position to begin negotiations with our key partners as soon after we leave the EU as possible. We will prioritise negotiating trade agreements with our close friends and likeminded allies: the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, as well as considering accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). We continue to build stronger bilateral trading relationships through dialogue and engagement with partners. We are also assessing options for future trading arrangements, this includes the Mercosur bloc and its members. The UK already participates in WTO negotiations as part of the EU. Once we regain our independent voice at the WTO, the UK will continue to take an active role in these negotiations.

Middle East: Overseas Trade

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what trade arrangements the UK have with Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

Conor Burns: The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries form an important market for UK businesses. Total exports of goods and services from the UK to GCC countries were £27.9 billion in the year to the end of June 2019, 4.3% of total UK exports. The UK and GCC countries do not currently trade on preferential terms. The UK is committed to deepening our trading relationship with the GCC countries and has a number of Government-to-Government trade dialogues, including the annual Joint Economic Committee with the United Arab Emirates and Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) with Qatar.

Department for International Trade: Digital Technology

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, who is responsible for digitisation in her Department; and what mechanisms the person with responsibility for digitisation uses to champion digitisation.

Conor Burns: Holly Ellis, Director of Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT), alongside Departmental Directors and DGs, is responsible for ‘digitisation’ Digitisation, and maturing our current digital services and approach, is championed through a variety of means, including: - Demonstrating benefits to colleagues across the Department, so they understand the productivity gains, increased customer satisfaction and reach.- Delivery of training and communication to build capability, helping employees understand possibilities and how to engage on DDaT projects.- DDaT and other function joint boards for cross-departmental buy-in and delivery of digitisation projects.- The DIT DDaT strategy has been approved by the Executive Committee.

Women and Equalities

Government Equalities Office: International Men's Day

Philip Davies: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what plans her Department has to mark International Men's Day on 19 November 2019.

Victoria Atkins: No one should suffer unfair treatment because of their gender. Every year International Men’s Day offers an opportunity to highlight how outcomes for men and boys can be improved and to talk about some of the important work going on every day across Government to do this. The work ranges from the introduction of shared parental leave, which allows men to take time away from the workplace and bond with their new children, benefitting that crucial long-term relationship for both parent and child, to our programme tackling LGBT bullying in schools which seeks to protect those who may be victimised by outdated and stereotypical ideas of what it means to be a ‘real man’. Government is also working with local authorities to ensure their suicide prevention plans support more men and, in the Domestic Abuse Bill, we propose to create a statutory definition of domestic abuse that makes clear men also can be victims of this abhorrent crime. As with International Women’s Day in March every year, the Government Equalities Office does not coordinate or facilitate activities to be undertaken by other Government Departments.

Equal Pay

Angela Crawley: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the employee number threshold over which listed public authorities must report gender pay gaps and publish equal pay statements.

Victoria Atkins: The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Bodies) regulations introduced mandatory gender pay gap reporting in 2017 to large public sector employers in England and non-devolved authorities. The threshold of 250 employees was determined following a public consultation and mirrors the requirements for employers in the private and voluntary sectors. The employee threshold and other aspects of the reporting metrics is under review to assess their effectiveness in exposing the causes of the pay gap in individual organisations and employers’ progress in tackling them. We will use this evidence to consider changes to the reporting legislation, consulting on any proposed amendments by 2021. Equal pay statements are not required outside of Scotland and the policy is therefore not subject to review by central Government. However, in 2020 we will review the enforcement of equal pay legislation more broadly, to ensure it is working as effectively as possible.

Children: Maintenance

Angela Crawley: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what recent discussions she has had with the Minister for Welfare Delivery on the removal of Child Maintenance Service collect and pay charges for receiving parents.

Victoria Atkins: On 3 July we published ‘Gender equality at every stage: a roadmap for change’, which sets out our plans to address the persistent gendered barriers people face at every stage of life. As part of the development of the roadmap the Minister for Women and Equalities engaged with ministers across government, including the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, on a range of issues related to gender equality.

Gender: Equality

Angela Crawley: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to the Government Equalities Office’s Gender Equality Roadmap, published in July 2019, what the terms of reference are for the review.

Victoria Atkins: We do not plan to do one single review of the Gender Equality Roadmap and, therefore, there are no terms of reference. Instead, we are constantly working across government to monitor progress against commitments made in the Roadmap. Next year, we will publish our one year on progress report. We will also publish the second release of our annual Gender Equality Monitor; we continue to engage with stakeholders on this, to understand which measures are most important and as we develop a more interactive tool.

Department for Transport

A3: Hindhead

Mr Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what data are available on levels of road noise along the A3 between the Hindhead tunnel and Queen Elizabeth country park (a) prior to and (b) since the opening of that tunnel.

George Freeman: Links to the DEFRA 2012 and 2017 strategic noise mapping data for estimated road noise for the A3 near Hindhead Tunnel and Queen Elizabeth country park are provided below. Once the postcode (GU26 6AP) is inserted into the Preview box the data will become live. Maps were made using computer modelling techniques, based on information such as traffic flow data, road/rail type, and vehicle type data. No actual noise measurements were made in the production of the strategic maps. Therefore, mapping data – although useful - does not necessarily represent an exact picture of the situation on the ground at any given locality. 2012: https://environment.data.gov.uk/DefraDataDownload/?mapService=DEFRA/RoadNoiseLAeq16hRound2&Mode=spatial 2017: https://environment.data.gov.uk/DefraDataDownload/?Mode=OGCPreview&mapService=https%3A%2F%2Fenvironment.data.gov.uk%2Fspatialdata%2Froad-noise-laeq-16h-england-round-3%2Fwms  Following completion of the Hindhead Tunnel, Highways England published an evaluation of the performance of the scheme in 2017, which can be found here. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/782584/POPE_A3_Hindhead_FYA_Report.pdf. The report indicates that the scheme is performing as expected or better than expected in terms of noise in most locations adjacent to the scheme. There are 15 Noise Important Areas (NIA) along the A3 between the Hindhead Tunnel and A27. Since 2015, at 11 of these sites, Highways England has delivered noise pollution mitigation schemes. These improvement schemes include low noise resurfacing and providing insulation to affected properties.

Motor Vehicles: Sales

Mr Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what data his Department holds on the proportion of (a) petrol and diesel and (b) electric (i) cars and (ii) other vehicles bought through (A) purchase, (B) financed purchase, (C) leasing arrangements and (D) other arrangements in each of the last three years.

George Freeman: The Department does not hold any information relating to methods by which vehicles are purchased.

Bus Services: Rural Areas

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps his Department has taken to support local authorities to maintain rural bus services.

George Freeman: The Government recognises the importance of bus services, which can provide vital connections to people in rural areas. Since January 2014, around £43 million of the Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) has been paid directly to local authorities each year, to support socially necessary bus services in their area that are not commercially viable. To improve current bus services, or restore lost services where needed, the Government will pay an extra £30 million to local authorities in 2020/21.

Offshore Industry: North Sea

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) commercial helicopters, (b) helicopter crew and (c) flights were involved in the evacuation of all workers from the Thistle oil platform to the Dunlin Alpha platform in the North Sea on 21 October 2019.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: No commercial helicopters were involved in the evacuation of workers from the Thistle oil platform to Dunlin Alpha platform on 21 October 2019. The HM Coastguard search and rescue helicopter based at Sumburgh and two Norwegian rescue helicopters were tasked to evacuate all workers. Each helicopter undertook the evacuation with one duty crew. The HM Coastguard aircraft operates with a crew of four, the Norwegian aircraft operate with a crew of five. The total number of flights involved in the evacuation was seven, four undertaken by one Norwegian helicopter and three by HM Coastguard. The second Norwegian helicopter required fuel before assisting and was then stood down as the evacuation was complete.

Roads: Capital Investment

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Road Investment Strategy 2015-2021, what progress has been made on delivering sustainable transport outcomes through environmental, social and economic objectives.

George Freeman: Through the Road Investment Strategy (RIS), Highways England is investing £675 million to improve the environmental, social and economic impacts of the Strategic Road Network, with designated funds across five areas: environmental; cycling, safety and integration; air quality; growth and housing; and innovation. In April 2017 Highways England published its Sustainable Development and Environment Strategies, setting out its vision for ensuring its work supports society and the wider national interest, as well as both minimising environmental impact, and improving it where possible. Some examples of activity in 2018-19 include the delivery of 300 noise mitigation measures towards its 5-year target of 1150, 59 more electric vehicle charge points to meet its commitment of 95% coverage by the end of 2019-20, and a contribution to Leeds City Council’s scheme to implement an electric van centre of excellence. Over the course of the RIS, Highways England is also supporting 28 schemes as part of its Growth and Housing Fund to unlock the development of housing and employment sites across the country. Highways England expect over 45,000 homes and 44,000 jobs to be developed over the lifetime of these developments. Highways England continues to work closely with the Department for Transport, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Office for Low Emission Vehicles and the Joint Air Quality Unit to support the delivery of the National Air Quality Plan, including work to meet limits on nitrogen dioxide in the shortest timescale possible. As a statutory planning consultee, Highways England responds to local authority plans and planning applications in a way that seeks to promote sustainable transport outcomes and avoid unnecessary works to the SRN. Highways England’s Planning Guide, published earlier in the RIS, sets out how it does this, alongside its requirement to ensure that any new development can safely be accommodated around its network. Highways England regularly engages with those in the development industry to ensure its responses and approach to planning are in line with its expectations as well as those of its customers, including how it enables development through delivery of sustainable transport outcomes.

Roads: Capital Investment

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much of the £900 million budget allocated to Highways England over the six year spending period 2015 to 2021 to deliver wider environmental, social and economic objectives on the strategic road network as part of the Road Investment Strategy has been (a) spent as of 28 October 2019 and (b) spent in each of the Five Designated Funds.

George Freeman: Highways England has a £675 million designated fund budget covering the period April 2015 to March 2020. The remaining £225m of the £900m commitment is for 2020/21 and will be superseded by the first year of the second Road Investment Strategy. As of the end of September 2019, half the way through the 2019/20 financial year, Highways England had invested £460.2 million of these funds. This investment has been delivered across the five designated funds as follows:Spend (£m)Designated Fund15/1616/1717/1818/1919/20RP1Air Quality0.02.00.76.83.312.8Cycling, Safety & Integration16.518.128.948.818.7131.0Environment2.613.740.975.436.6169.2Growth & Housing0.15.214.510.425.655.8Innovation2.78.826.839.613.591.4Total21.947.8111.8181.097.7460.2 Spend has increased year on year as Highways England has developed the maturity of the programme through Road Period 1. Highways England is focussed on delivering the remaining £214.8 million spend on interventions that deliver the greatest benefits to our road users and local communities and it has developed an in-year programme capable of delivering the remaining budgets across the Environment, CSI, Innovation and Growth & Housing fund.  Highways England is already starting to see the positive impact of the Designated Funds programme and its spend to date has contributed to the following successes:Facilitating safe movement for cyclists, walkers and other vulnerable road users through delivering 102 cycling schemes, and supporting construction of 114 new and 220 upgraded crossings.Completion of over 90 safety schemes to reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on the network.665 Noise Important Areas mitigated to reduce the impact of noise on residents living locally to its roads.Growth and Housing projects expect to provide up to 45,000 homes and 44,000 jobs.

Bus Services: Urban Areas

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on new funding for the (a) restoration of bus services removed due to changes in local authority funding and (b) other bus services in (i) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (ii) other coalfield towns.

George Freeman: On 30 September, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced ‘A Better Deal for Bus Users’ package, worth £220 million, to boost bus services. As part of this package, the Government will pay an extra £30 million directly to local authorities in 2020/21 to enable them to improve current bus services or to restore lost services. Further details, including the funding allocations for each local authority, will be announced in due course. Further details of the package can be found online with the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-better-deal-for-bus-users/a-better-deal-for-bus-users

Railways: Staffordshire

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on new funding for (a) the reopening of local railway lines, (b) the reinstating of passenger services on freight lines, (c) new stations, (d) new rolling stock and (e) other local railway services in coalfield towns in North Staffordshire.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Government assesses rail enhancement schemes including the reopening of closed lines, use of freight lines and opening of new stations on a case by case basis. The Department continues to work with local authorities and other partners to identify new rail projects that can deliver value for money for the UK taxpayer.Proposals would be taken forward as part of the Rail Network Enhancement Pipeline (RNEP). The RNEP sets out the Department’s priorities for rail and principles for investment based around the progressive development of business cases and formal investment decision gateways.From 2020 onwards, passengers using services in North Staffordshire will benefit from the modification and modernisation of West Midlands Train rolling stock which will provide additional capacity. Additionally, the West Coast Partnership will be replacing Voyager trains with 23 new trains which will provide more capacity, be more efficient and have lower emissions. The West Coast Partnership Pendolino fleet will also be refurbished providing increased capacity.

Motorcycles: Exhaust Emissions

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the sustainability of motorcycling as a form of transport; and if he will make a statement.

George Freeman: The Government has not made any recent assessment on the sustainability of motorcycling as a form of transport.

Roads: Accidents

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect on trends in the level of road casualties of policies to promote active travel; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Government's Response to the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy Safety Review was published in November 2018 and sets out how it intends to achieve its ambition to make cycling and walking a safe, easy and affordable travel option. As part of the review the Department commissioned a rapid assessment to explore the evidence around the impact of cycling and walking interventions on improving cyclists and pedestrian safety and feelings of safety, and whether these can be introduced without adversely effecting participation in cycling and walking. The results of this assessment will be published in due course.

Motorcycles: Bus Lanes

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which local authorities allow motorcycles access to bus lanes; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of revising guidance on motorcycle access to bus lanes to create consistency; and if he will make a statement.

George Freeman: The Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016, as amended, prescribe the traffic signs to be used to indicate if motorcycles are allowed into bus lanes. This is a decision for local traffic authorities to make, and they are not required to inform the Department. Accordingly, the Department does not hold information on which authorities allow motorcycles into bus lanes.Traffic authorities are responsible for providing traffic management schemes for their roads and are free to make their own decisions about the streets under their care, provided they take account of the relevant legislation. The Department has published Traffic Advisory Leaflet (TAL) 2/07 ‘The Use of Bus Lanes by Motorcycles’ in 2007. There are no plans to revise this. TAL 2/07 is available at the link below:www.gov.uk/government/publications/traffic-advisory-leaflets-1989-to-2009

Motorcycles: Accidents

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of motorcycle road injuries involved drivers and riders who acted unlawfully with respect to using the road in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement.

George Freeman: The Department does not hold information on whether drivers or riders involved in reported road accidents acted unlawfully. The closest information available in the road casualty data is contributory factors. Contributory factors provide some insight into why and how road accidents occur. They are designed to give the key actions and failures that led directly to the actual impact to aid investigation of how accidents might be prevented. When police officers attend the scene of an accident, they are able to select up to six factors they believe contributed to the accident (for each vehicle and casualty involved). Please note that this does not assign blame for the accident to any specific road user, but gives an indication of which factors the attending officer thought contributed to the accident. The contributory factor data for motorcyclist casualties for the last three years is given in the table attached. Contributory factor statistics presented here are allocated to the drivers, riders or pedestrians involved in accidents where the motorcyclist casualties occurred.  



Table
(Word Document, 34.03 KB)

Commuters: Air Pollution

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what comparative assessment he has made of exposure to particulate matter between commuting at (a) street level and (b) on the London Underground; and if he will make a statement.

George Freeman: My Department has not carried out such an assessment. Air quality in London, and on the London Underground is the responsibility of the Mayor of London. The Committee on the Health Effects of Air Pollution did publish a review of air quality on the London Underground last January, which was discussed with Transport for London.

Railways: Bristol

Jack Lopresti: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to help (a) bring forward the Bristol East Junction project and (b) promote economic growth and prosperity in the West of England area; what progress has been made on presenting the business case for that project to the Treasury; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Heaton-Harris: Earlier this year, Her Majesty’s Treasury approved funding for advanced works at Bristol East Junction which significantly de-risk the project’s commissioning phase. My officials have worked closely with Network Rail to develop the Business Case for the project which is close to being finalised and I expect this to be presented to the Treasury in the coming months. The Government’s continued support for the West of England region is demonstrated by the £5bn investment in the electrification and upgrade of the Great Western Main Line, stimulating economic growth in the region. Additionally, the West of England Combined Authority has received £103m from Government through the Transforming Cities Fund to transform connectivity within the Bristol area.

Roads: Romford

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his timetable is for announcing the decision on whether the Gallows Corner scheme in Romford has been selected for the major road network programme.

George Freeman: The Department is working closely with Transport for London (TfL) as it develops a business case for the scheme. Once TfL has submitted a business case, the Department will assess it and make a decision. With significant funding involved, it is not possible to provide an exact timeframe for Ministerial decisions until the business case has been received and the necessary assessment criteria have been satisfied.

Department for Transport: International Men's Day

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to mark International Men's Day on 19 November 2019.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Department for Transport celebrates International Men’s Day in several ways. The central department will hold a panel discussion on “Men Inspiring Men”. Our Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency will be marking the day with an opportunity for staff to network and meet inspirational role models. Our Maritime and Coastguard Agency will promote shared parental leave to men as well as male health and wellbeing. No one should suffer unfair treatment because of their gender. Every year International Men’s Day offers an opportunity to highlight how outcomes for men and boys can be improved and to talk about some of the important work going on every day across Government to do this. The work ranges from the introduction of shared parental leave, which allows men to take time away from the workplace and bond with their new children, benefitting that crucial long-term relationship for both parent and child, to our programme tackling LGBT bullying in schools which seeks to protect those who may be victimised by outdated and stereotypical ideas of what it means to be a ‘real man’. Government is also working with local authorities to ensure their suicide prevention plans support more men, and in the Domestic Abuse Bill we propose to create a statutory definition of domestic abuse that makes clear men also can be victims of this abhorrent crime.

M1

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what public consultation was undertaken prior to the decision to proceed with the conversion of junctions 34 to 35A of the M1 to an all lane running scheme; and on what date that all lane running scheme became operational.

George Freeman: The Highways Agency held a public consultation on the proposals regarding the regulation to introduce variable mandatory speed limits on the all lane running smart motorways on the M1 junction 32 to 35A from 17 December 2012 to 11 February 2013. The scheme was delivered by Highways England and became operational in March 2017.

Electric Vehicles: Charging Points

Giles Watling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that electric vehicle charging infrastructure is made available in (a) Clacton and (b) the UK.

George Freeman: Zero emission motorists in Clacton can benefit from grants under the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme and Work Place Chargepoint Schemes and Tendring District Council can apply for funding under the On-street Residential Charging scheme.We want to encourage private sector investment to build and operate a self-sustaining public network that is affordable, reliable and accessible.Government funding, alongside private sector investment, has supported the installation of more than 22,500 places to charge, including 2,100 rapid devices– creating one of the largest networks in Europe. In August the Secretary of State announced that funding for this year’s on street residential charging scheme, which offers grants to local authorities to support investment at a local level, would be doubled from £2.5 to £5 million. Highways England has also committed £15m to ensure there are chargepoints (rapid where possible) every 20 miles on 95% of the Strategic Road Network by 2020.This is in addition to the £400m Chargepoint Infrastructure Investment Fund , with the first tranche of funding launched in September 2019.

Railways: Merseyside

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many passenger journeys were made from (a) Newton-le-Willows, (b) Garswood, (c) St Helens Central, (d) St Helens Junction, (e) Rainford and (f) Earlestown in each year since 2010.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) estimates the number of passengers travelling to and from stations within Great Britain. The estimates for Newton-le-Willows, Garswood, St Helens Central, St Helens Junction, Rainford and Earlestown are presented in the table below: Estimates of total departures by stationYearNewton-le-WillowsGarswoodSt Helens CentralSt Helens JunctionRainfordEarlestown2017-18403,464175,260650,744206,80827,676315,0992016-17398,629161,553583,364192,63023,137276,4062015-16387,932152,975570,099192,98323,732269,7512014-15373,708139,181521,904179,51524,785249,5592013-14355,731146,158548,422172,06225,996242,6482012-13335,469151,473337,009125,78825,707211,9212011-12322,574165,428361,235130,17026,144222,2782010-11302,060157,399361,905128,29925,678209,165Please note there have been methodological changes over the recording of these statistics so yearly figures may not be directly comparable. Source: ORR Estimates of Station Usage (http://orr.gov.uk/statistics/published-stats/station-usage-estimates) The ORR data estimates the number of passenger journeys, based on origin and destination data from ticket sales. The methodology applied makes an assumption that the number of station arrivals and departures are equal.

Heathrow Airport: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the oral contribution of the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of 28 October 2019, Official Report column 83, whether it is the Government's policy that the expansion programme at Heathrow will be required to comply with new requirements on greenhouse gas emissions reductions introduced by the Climate Change Act 2008 (2050 Target Amendment) Order 2019; and what plans the Government has to undertake a review of the airports National Planning Statement to assess compatibility of Heathrow expansion with new (a) air pollution and (b) climate targets.

Paul Maynard: It is the Government’s policy, via the Airports National Policy Statement, that any applicant for development consent for a Northwest runway at Heathrow Airport will have to comply with the new requirements on greenhouse gas emissions reductions introduced by the Climate Change Act 2008 (2050 Target Amendment) Order 2019. The Airports National Policy Statement is clear that an applicant will need to demonstrate that any increase in carbon emissions from the scheme will have no material impact on the ability of the Government to meet the carbon targets in force at the date that that application is determined. We have received several requests for review of the Airports National Policy Statement which raise the matters of air quality and climate change, and the Secretary of State will consider carefully whether it is appropriate to review the Airports National Policy Statement in accordance with the requirements of the Planning Act 2008.

Roads: Safety

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what Performance Indicator or Indicators he proposes to set for Highways England’s performance as part of its 2nd Roads Investment Strategy to achieve (a) improved provision for, (b) increases in and (c) improved safety of travel by pedestrians, cycle users and equestrians along and across the corridors of the Strategic Road Network corridors.

George Freeman: The draft Road Investment Strategy 2 (RIS2) published in October 2018 sets out Government’s objectives for the second Road Period from 2020-21 to 2024-25. These build on the progress made in the first Road Investment Strategy (RIS1). The RIS2 performance specification is expected to be split into six outcome areas. Under each of these outcome areas we will require Highways England to report on a range of performance indicators and activities to support the delivery of each outcome. The outcome areas of most relevance to cyclists will be improving safety for all, and meeting the needs of all road users. The metrics and associated targets for each outcome area will be confirmed shortly in the final RIS2 document.

Roads: Safety

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions (a) his Department and (b) Highways England has had with representatives of cycling, walking and horse-riding user groups to determine the Performance Indicators to measure improved provision for (i) increased travel by and (ii) improved safety for pedestrian, cycle and equestrian journeys (a) along and (b) across the corridors of the Strategic Road Network; and what response was received from those groups on the proposed Performance Indicators.

George Freeman: The Department for Transport and Highways England have undertaken an extensive engagement exercise with external stakeholders in developing the performance specification for the second Road Investment Strategy (RIS2). This has included walking, cycling and horse riding groups, as well as organisations representing the safety interests of all road users. In addition, Transport Focus has formed part of the formal governance of RIS2 in its role as the watchdog representing user interests on the Strategic Road Network.The performance specification will be confirmed shortly in the final RIS2 document.

Cycling: Cambridgeshire

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of whether Highways England’s provision for cycle travel in the (a) A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon and (b) A428 Caxton Gibbet highway schemes complies with its design standards for cycling infrastructure; and what steps he is taking to ensure that Highways England conforms with its own design standards in all future highway schemes and development proposals affecting the Strategic Road Network throughout England.

George Freeman: The A14 scheme designers certify that the scheme design complies with the relevant mandatory standards within the Design Manual Roads & Bridges. Where compliance is not possible, departures from standards are applied for which have to be strongly justified to be acceptable. Highways England employs an independent project technical assurance team to oversee this process and through spot checks and audits it gives confidence that relevant standards and specifications are being adhered to.The A428 scheme is at preliminary design stage and Highways England has undertaken a Walking, Cycling Horse-Riding Assessment and Review to identify the most frequently used cycling routes (and walking and horse-riding routes) that may be affected by the scheme to define the provisions for cyclists being proposed. Highways England is working with local authorities and community groups to understand what is most important to the people that use these routes. The existing A428 is being retained as a local road which, as a result of the scheme, will have less traffic on it following the opening of the new road, making it a safer and more attractive route for cyclists.

A1: Lincolnshire

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason roadworks planned for the A1 near Harlaxton (a) are scheduled to take over 18 months to complete and (b) cannot be completed to a shorter timescale; and what steps he is taking to reduce congestion and delays experienced by motorists using the A1.

George Freeman: The planned roadworks on the A1 near Harlaxton are part of Lincolnshire County Council led works for the Grantham Relief Road. The planned work interacts with the strategic road network on the A1, and so Highways England is supporting Lincolnshire County Council to deliver this scheme. Highways England has reviewed the construction plans provided by Lincolnshire County Council’s contractor for the substantial and complex work required for the scheme, and agree with the suggested timeframe for the work. The appropriate measures have been considered to limit the inconvenience caused to road users during the work and, once completed, journey times are expected to improve locally.

Cycling and Walking

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the research commissioned by his Department to assess the funding required to meet its ambitions to (a) double cycling trips and (b) increase walking trips by 2025 has been completed; and when he plans to publish that research.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The research has been completed, and the Department is planning to publish the technical report which underpins it shortly, alongside the first report on progress made towards delivering the aims and ambitions set out in the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS).

Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much road tax was collected from (a) private vehicle owners and (b) commercial operators in Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency in each year since 2010.

George Freeman: The information requested is not held by the Department for Transport. The amount of vehicle excise duty collected cannot be broken down by geographical area or by private vehicle owners and commercial operators.

Electric Vehicles

Mr Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what (a) monitoring and (b) analysis his Department undertakes of the average (i) capital cost, (ii) running cost and (iii) whole-life cost of electric vehicles relative to (A) petrol and (B) diesel vehicles for different (1) categories of vehicle and (2) groups of users.

George Freeman: The department procures data and analysis from external consultants, which allows us to assess current and potential future capital costs, running costs, and the whole life cost or ‘Total Cost of Ownership’ (TCO) for different categories of electric, diesel and petrol vehicles. We monitor for similar analysis produced by external parties to verify our understanding of how TCO, and the economic case for owning an ultra-low emission vehicle (ULEV), is expected to evolve over time. When deemed necessary, we commission updates or revisions to the data and analysis. At the moment the Department does not conduct this analysis for individual consumer groups.

Department for Transport: Digital Technology

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, who is responsible for digitisation in his Department; and what mechanisms the person with responsibility for digitisation uses to champion digitisation.

George Freeman: As Minister of State for the Future of Transport, I am responsible for the digitisation agenda, with digitisation of the transport system being one of my three core priorities - digitisation, decarbonisation and (tackling) disconnection. Delivery of this priority is overseen and managed by a group of director-level officials, including the Department’s Digital Director, which is chaired by me. This provides the primary mechanism for championing this agenda and driving progress. At an official level, a Digital and Data Strategy Board has been established to draw together the Department’s work on digitisation to ensure that it is conducted in a coherent fashion and exploits synergies across the Departmental group and the wider transport sector.

Railways: Season Tickets

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to require rail franchisees to provide part-time season tickets.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Secretary of State requires bidders for rail franchises to bring forward proposals for initiatives that give customers who travel less than 5 days a week a better value-for-money option. These proposals are then evaluated as part of the overall franchise evaluation process. We continue to challenge the rail industry to develop proposals for pricing and delivering more flexible ticketing options for those who work or commute part-time.

Northern: Living Wage

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to ensure that Arriva Rail North Limited has used all reasonable endeavours to ensure that the Real Living Wage is paid by suppliers of goods and services as part of that company's delivery of the rail franchise.

Chris Heaton-Harris: Arriva Rail North Limited operates under a franchise agreement which stipulates that the franchisee must use all reasonable endeavours to ensure its suppliers have the Living Wage Accreditation offered by the Living Wage Foundation. Northern has supplied us with the necessary evidence in December 2018 that Northern has maintained its accreditation.

Roads: Construction

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will have discussions with Highways England on holding a full public consultation on the Oxford to Cambridge Expressway including on the option not to progress with the project.

George Freeman: The Government has already committed to holding a public consultation on options for the Oxford to Cambridge Expressway, to which respondents will be able to offer comment on the overarching case for the scheme. Highways England has been preparing for such a consultation. We are not able currently to announce any updates on the project or proceed with a public consultation on the project given the imminent General Election purdah period.

A34

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will urgently investigate the continued delays to the Lodge Hill junction upgrade project on the A34; and if he will make a statement.

George Freeman: The Lodge Hill junction scheme is being led by the local highway authority, Oxfordshire County Council. I understand the council is continuing to work closely with Highways England to agree traffic modelling and design.

A27: Chichester

Gillian Keegan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will undertake a consultation of all the options for improving the Chichester section of the A27.

George Freeman: Highways England undertook a public consultation on the viable options for improving the Chichester section of the A27 in 2016. There are no current plans for another consultation on this subject.

London-Exeter Railway Line: Rolling Stock

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to exercise the call option over the leasing costs of the 36 Eversholt Rail funded class 802 bi-modes operating on the West of England route of the Great Western region.

Chris Heaton-Harris: As part of considerations for the future of the franchise, the Department is engaged with the incumbent operator in commercially confidential discussions in order to secure the best prices available for all train leases for the existing train fleet, which includes the Class 802’s.

Department for Transport: General Election 2019

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the latest guidance for Department for Transport announcements during the 2019 General Election purdah period.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Department follows Cabinet Office General Election guidance over the pre-election period, including on communication activities. Current guidance is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/election-guidance-for-civil-servants.

East Coast Railway Line: Standards

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the report of the Consortium of East Coast Mainline Authorities, published on 25 October 2019, what assessment he has made of the accuracy of the finding that in 2018 12 major incidents on the East Coast Main Line cost the UK economy £46.28 million.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Department received the report in question last week, with officials currently reviewing its conclusions. We recognise the critical importance of the East Coast Main Line, and, having invested £400m in infrastructure since 2014, plan to invest up to a further £780m on upgrades from 2019. This has already helped to deliver a significant programme of infrastructure improvements, with further works currently underway. In addition, the roll out of the new fleet of Azuma trains continues, helping to deliver increased capacity, improved reliability and passenger comfort.

Trains: Diesel Fuel

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the Government's policy is on the use of diesel trains on the UK rail network beyond 2040.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Government has set an ambitious, legally binding target to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from the UK by 2050. Rail must make a significant contribution towards achieving this target as part of our Transport Decarbonisation Plan. We are working with Network Rail to develop a costed decarbonisation network strategy which will inform decisions on the scale and pace of rail decarbonisation. This work will consider the full range of available technologies and identify which is most appropriate for each part of the rail network. Decisions on rolling stock will be taken as part of this wider strategy, alongside decisions on infrastructure. We will reduce use of diesel trains as we electrify a greater proportion of the network and as new technologies such as battery and hydrogen become more mature.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Syria: Humanitarian Aid

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2019 to Question 1878, what recent steps his Department has taken to ensure that cross-border points remain (a) open and (b) accessible to humanitarian aid (i) workers and (ii) supplies.

Dr Andrew Murrison: ​The UK has consistently advocated for sustained humanitarian access in all areas of Syria, including the north east, and is actively speaking to partners including Turkey and Iraq on this subject. We are committed to the renewal of Resolution 2249, which allows much needed humanitarian aid to be delivered cross-border into Syria, and will soon begin discussions with likeminded countries in the UN Security Council on this subject.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: International Men's Day

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what plans his Department has to mark International Men's Day on 19 November 2019.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: No one should suffer unfair treatment because of their gender. Every year International Men's Day offers an opportunity to highlight how outcomes for men and boys can be improved and to talk about some of the important work going on every day across Government to do this.The work ranges from the introduction of shared parental leave, which allows men to take time away from the workplace and bond with their new children, benefitting that crucial long-term relationship for both parent and child, to our programme tackling LGBT bullying in schools which seeks to protect those who may be victimised by outdated and stereotypical ideas of what it means to be a 'real man'.Government is also working with local authorities to ensure their suicide prevention plans support more men, and in the Domestic Abuse Bill we propose to create a statutory definition of domestic abuse that makes clear men also can be victims of this abhorrent crime.

South Sudan: Peace Negotiations

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the implementation of the Revitalised Peace Agreement in South Sudan.

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to address the key concerns of international observers and the people of South Sudan on potential difficulties in the formation of a Government of National Unity in that country.

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government can take with its Troika partners to ensure the continued engagement of all parties to the Revitalised Peace Agreement in South Sudan.

Andrew Stephenson: The UK recognises that a significant amount of progress has been achieved since the signing of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan on 12 September 2018, including a reduction in fighting between the parties. However, implementation of a number of important agreed tasks is falling behind, including the unification of armed forces, security arrangements for returning opposition leaders, and the future number and composition of states. Further effort is required now from all sides to ensure the conditions to allow an inclusive, transitional government to form. The 12 November 2019 deadline for the formation of a transitional government is an important step in the peace process; we urge parties to show unity, cooperation and compromise.We engage frequently in Juba, the region and internationally to urge all parties to deliver on their promises made in the 12 September 2018 Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan. When I met the President of South Sudan on 13 August 2019 I reaffirmed the UK's support for the people of South Sudan. I urged President Kiir to take the steps necessary to form a government of national unity. In the last month, our Ambassador in Juba has reinforced this message with all sides including with President Kiir; the Ministers of finance, security and foreign affairs; and all signatories to the peace agreement and key interlocutors. On 21 October we, alongside Troika partners (UK, US and Norway) issued a statement urging the all sides to demonstrate their commitment to peace by increasing co-operation and working together to resolve outstanding issues (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/south-sudan-troika-statement-october-2019). The UK Special Envoy will be in Juba and the region next week to reinforce these messages and urge progress.

South Sudan: Politics and Government

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to improve the political and humanitarian situation in South Sudan.

Andrew Stephenson: The UK remains at the forefront of the international response to the humanitarian crisis and the UK is providing lifesaving humanitarian support to hundreds of thousands of people in South Sudan. In 2018 we supported over 221,000 people with food assistance, over 100,000 children with nutrition support and over 142,000 people with emergency water, hygiene and sanitation support.The UK supports lasting peace in South Sudan and continues to engage parties and region at the highest levels to improve the political situation. During my August visit to Juba, I pressed President Kiir and his ministers to deliver progress and make compromise needed for the peace agreement to succeed. The UK also co-hosted an event with Kenya at the UN General Assembly in September 2019 to urge progress and galvanise regional partners to pressure parties to deliver peace. Additionally, the UK continues to support actions, including sanctions and an arms embargo, to deter those who undermine peace. We, alongside Troika partners (UK, US and Norway) issued a statement urging all sides to demonstrate their commitment to peace by increasing co-operation and working together to resolve outstanding issues https://www.gov.uk/government/news/south-sudan-troika-statement-october-2019.

Chile: Politics and Government

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the political situation in Chile.

Christopher Pincher: The British Government is concerned at events that have occurred in Chile in recent days. We condemn the violence that has taken place and welcome the efforts of everyone involved in restoring the situation in the country to normality and in reconciling differing views. Our Embassy in Santiago has talked with representatives of the Chilean Government about the protests and has expressed concern about the violence. We will continue to monitor the situation closely.

Ecuador: Politics and Government

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the political situation in Ecuador.

Christopher Pincher: We welcome the return to greater calm in Ecuador and the ongoing UN-supported dialogue between the government and protest groups there. Our Embassy in Quito is in close contact with the Ecuadorean authorities and will continue to monitor the situation closely, including with regards to the safety of British Nationals in Ecuador.

Papua: Human Rights

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his counterpart in Indonesia on the human rights situation in West Papua.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: I met with the Indonesian Ambassador, Dr Rizal Sukma, on 29 October and raised the issue of human rights in Papua, pointing to the level of interest in the issue from MPs and the British public.The Foreign Secretary discussed Papua with Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi on 31 July, in the margins of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Bangkok. Earlier, on 18 June, the former Foreign Secretary had discussed Papua with Foreign Minister Retno during the UK-Indonesia Partnership Forum in London.Following the most recent protests, our Ambassador released a press statement on 26 September urging all sides to refrain from violence and welcoming the Indonesian Government's announcement of a full and comprehensive investigation.Embassy officials in Jakarta visit Papua and West Papua provinces and regularly press the Indonesian authorities to address legitimate human rights concerns, including upholding the right of all citizens to protest peacefully, and promote the sustainable and equitable development of the provinces. The UK fully respects the territorial integrity of Indonesia, including Papua.

Colombia: Mining

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps is he taking to help mitigate the environmental impact of UK mining companies operating in Colombia.

Christopher Pincher: The Government does not specifically undertake work with UK mining companies in Colombia to mitigate their environmental impact. We expect them to comply fully with local environmental standards.More broadly, the United Kingdom remains steadfast in its support to the Colombian Government in its efforts to safeguard the country's environmental assets.We are committed to helping Colombia protect its unique ecosystem, reduce emissions and adapt to climate change risks. During President Duque's visit in June this year, the United Kingdom and Colombia launched a new Partnership for Sustainable Growth, with the United Kingdom committing a further £8.5 million to climate-related projects in Colombia. Through the International Climate Fund, the United Kingdom has invested US$165 million since 2010 to support Colombia's efforts in the agendas of climate change and green growth.

War Crimes: White Phosphorus

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to help prevent war crimes involving white phosphorus; and what assessment he has made of potential sanctions that the Government could put in place against countries using white phosphorus as a chemical weapon.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The UK is committed to preventing mass atrocities, including war crimes, using instruments such as diplomatic engagement, development and programmatic support, and defence and policing tools. White phosphorus is not a chemical weapon or a prohibited substance in itself, but the way it is used may be. Reports that white phosphorus has been used intentionally against civilians are extremely worrying as it would be contrary to international humanitarian law. It is important that the full facts are established. We will continue to call on all parties to uphold international humanitarian law, which prohibits attacks against civilians irrespective of the weapon used.

Egypt: Human Rights

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Egyptian counterpart on the support and protection of human right defenders in that country.

Dr Andrew Murrison: ​During my visit to Cairo on 16 September, I met a group of prominent human rights defenders. I underlined to them the UK's enduring support for human rights around the world. My officials and I continue to raise human rights concerns in our contacts with the Egyptian authorities. As set out in my responses to previous questions (3559 and 3560) tabled by the Honourable Member for Leeds North East, we have urged the Egyptian authorities to release journalists and political detainees. We have also pressed the Egyptians to review mass judicial decisions, remove restrictions on civil society, and improve access to justice.

Kashmir: Telecommunications

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Indian counterpart on the communications blackout in Kashmir; and what plans he has to support the humanitarian effort in Kashmir.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: ​The continued use of detentions and restrictions on communications in India-administered Kashmir is of concern. It is important that individual rights are fully respected and that there is constructive dialogue with affected communities.We are monitoring the situation in Kashmir closely and are in regular contact with the Indian Government. The Prime Minister has spoken to Prime Minister Modi about the situation in Kashmir, and the Foreign Secretary has spoken to Indian Minister of External Affairs Jaishankar to express concerns around the situation. The Minister for South Asia has also had regular engagement with the Indian High Commissioner. He raised the situation in Kashmir with the Indian Minister for Minority Affairs earlier this month.We urge the Governments of India and Pakistan to ensure that the humanitarian needs of the people of India-administered Kashmir and Pakistan-administered Kashmir are being met, and encourage India and Pakistan to engage in dialogue to find lasting, diplomatic solutions to maintain regional stability.

Kashmir: Human Rights

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the implementation of UN resolutions to uphold the human rights of the Kashmiri people.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: ​We recognise that there are human rights concerns in both India-administered Kashmir and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Any allegation of human rights abuse is deeply concerning and must be investigated thoroughly, promptly, transparently and independently. We encourage all states to uphold their international human rights obligations and to ensure domestic laws are in line with international standards.

Kashmir: Cluster Munitions

Mr Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his Answer of 24 October 2019 to Question 5006, for what reason he did not provide an assessment of the accuracy of reports on the use of cluster munitions by Indian security forces against civilians in Kashmir.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: We recognise the concerns surrounding the reported use of cluster munitions by Indian security forces in Kashmir, however ​it is difficult to judge the accuracy of information relating to incidents across the Line of Control. We strongly discourage states from using cluster munitions and urge non-States Parties such as India to accede to the Cluster Munitions Convention without delay. We continue to urge both India and Pakistan to exercise restraint and improve channels of communication. ​

Cluster Munitions

Mr Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether it is Government policy that the use of cluster munitions against civilians constitutes a grave violation of human rights.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Attacks directed against civilians constitute a breach of international humanitarian law, irrespective of the weapon used. We discourage states from using cluster munitions, and urge states not party to the Cluster Munitions Convention to accede without delay.​

Ukraine: Hate Crime

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of hate crime investigations in Ukraine; and if he will make a statement.

Christopher Pincher: The United Kingdom remains committed to working closely with the government of Ukraine, our international partners and local agencies to support efforts to report, investigate and reduce incidences of hate crime.

South Sudan: Money Laundering

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his (a) Kenyan, (b) Ugandan and (c) South Sudanese counterparts on preventing money-laundering and profiteering by the South Sudanese elite.

Andrew Stephenson: ​Illicit finance is a driver of destabilisation, poor governance and conflict. In South Sudan this leads to resources being diverted that could be used to support peace process implementation and end the suffering of the people of South Sudan. We encourage the region to address weaknesses in their financial systems that provide channels for illicit finance, including in relation to South Sudan. In January the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, HM Treasury and Home Office Ministers wrote to their Kenyan and Ugandan counterparts outlining UK concerns, as well as offering practical support to help ensure robust systems are in place to deter corruption and illicit financial flows. The UK has also deployed technical expertise from both the National Crime Agency and Department for International Development to ensure Kenya’s compliance with Financial Action Task Force standards that can help to address the illicit financial flows in the region. British officials in Juba also frequently engage with the South Sudanese Ministry of Finance to ensure its spending is in line with its approved budget and to urge transparency and accountability in line with the provisions of the 12 September 2018 Peace Agreement.

Diplomatic Service: War Crimes

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department takes steps to ensure that the credentials of foreign diplomats posted to the UK do not have military records linking those diplomats to suspected war crimes.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: Diplomatic agents, Administrative and Technical (A&T) and service staff posted to foreign diplomatic missions in the UK are appointed freely by sending States in line with Article 7 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (VCDR). Heads of Mission and Defence Attaché positions require the UK's express agreement prior to arriving. This process confirms, or otherwise, the acceptability of a Head of Mission or a Defence Attaché. Comparable arrangements are in place for consular staff appointed to the UK under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR), under which HMG requires prior agreement for Heads of consular posts.

Sri Lanka: Armed Forces

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of undertaking an independent audit of the adequacy of the UK’s security sector reform program in Sri Lanka.

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his assessment is of the level of compliance with human rights law of the UK's security assistance to Sri Lanka after the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: UK support to security sector development in Sri Lanka is an integrated part of our post-conflict approach to building lasting stability and accountability. We have a long-standing partnership with the Sri Lanka police service where we provide training and support designed to enhance their community policing capacity. We are also engaged in discrete activities involving the military and wider security sector which are designed to to support the Sri Lankan military to adapt and modernise, in particular to be more professional and accountable. As most of this activity is delivered via the Conflict Security and Stability Fund which conducts regular monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of the programme, we assess that an independent audit is not required. All CSSF programmes are subject to rigorous annual reviews, which are conducted by an expert team including at least one person who is independent from the programme. Annual review summaries for the Sri Lanka programme are published on gov.uk.Following the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks that killed more than 250 people, the then Minister of State for Security visited Sri Lanka to demonstrate solidarity, and to offer UK assistance in countering terrorism and violent extremism. We continue to engage with the Sri Lankan authorities and other international partners on where UK support would be most helpful. All UK security sector assistance is subject to robust Overseas Security and Justice Assistance (OSJA) assessments that analyse the potential human rights, international humanitarian law, political and reputational risks of any proposed assistance to ensure that it supports our values and is consistent with our domestic and international human rights obligations.

Sri Lanka: War Crimes

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the extent of the government of Sri Lanka's engagement with war crimes investigations; and what plans the Government has to refer cases of alleged war crimes in that country to to the International Criminal Court.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The UK supports Sri Lanka’s accountability commitments to the UN Human Rights Council through resolutions 30/1, 34/1 and 40/1 as the best way to establish truth and to achieve justice, restitution and reconciliation. A national process, initiated by the Government of Sri Lanka and supported by all communities, offers the best route to achieve this. There have been important developments since 2015 and some key domestic institutions have been established, although the pace of progress has remained slow in many areas. In the most recent resolution, the Council encouraged Sri Lanka to set a clear timeline for action through a national implementation strategy.Sri Lanka is not party to the Rome Statute, so the International Criminal Court (ICC) has no jurisdiction to investigate the situation in that country. The ICC could only exercise jurisdiction if the situation is referred to it by a UN Security Council Resolution, or if Sri Lanka accepts the Court’s jurisdiction. Our assessment is that this step would not have the support of the required Security Council members. Nor would it advance the cause of accountability for an ICC referral to fail to win Security Council support or to be vetoed. Sri Lanka has made commitments to the UNHRC, and we continue to look to them to deliver those commitments in full.​

Bahrain: Human Rights

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department made of the (a) human rights situation in Bahrain since the execution of three men in that country in July 2019 and (b) efficacy of the UK Government's technical assistance programme to Bahrain.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Bahrain remains a Foreign and Commonwealth Office human rights priority country, partly because of the use of the death penalty. Following the execution of three men in July 2019, Lord Ahmad issued a statement expressing deep concern and the UK raised the matter at the September Human Rights Council in Geneva. In addition, I called Dr Sheikh Abdullah, Bahraini Undersecretary for International Affairs following the executions, to express our disappointment. The Government of Bahrain is fully aware of the UK’s clear and longstanding position; we oppose the death penalty in all circumstances and all countries.On British assistance, we are committed to supporting Bahrain-led reform and are confident of its positive impact across a variety of areas including building effective and accountable institutions, strengthening the rule of law, and police and justice reform. We continue to monitor events closely, regularly raising human rights concerns with the Government of Bahrain at senior levels, both in private and public, and most recently at the UK-Bahrain Joint Working Group on 17 October.

Jordan: Females

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he plans to have with his Jordanian counterpart on the imprisonment of women for disobeying their so-called male guardians in Jordan.

Dr Andrew Murrison: We are aware of the recent report by Amnesty International on this issue. We have close and frequent dialogue with the Jordanian government on human rights, including women’s rights, and will raise the report in that context.

Gambia: Human Rights

Liz McInnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the human rights situation in The Gambia in relation to (a) freedom of expression and (b) freedom of association.

Liz McInnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help promote media freedom in The Gambia.

Andrew Stephenson: The British Government has a strong relationship with The Gambia and is encouraged by positive progress on the human rights situation since President Barrow took office in 2017. We welcome the commitment of the President and the Government of The Gambia to embrace change by drafting a new Gambian Constitution that has a human rights based approach to development with freedom of expression, freedom of association and media freedom at the heart of it. As the former Foreign Secretary acknowledged at the UNESCO World Press Freedom Day event on 2 May 2019, The Gambia has made huge strides in improving media freedoms having climbed 30 places in the World Press Freedom Index over the last year.When our Ambassador for Human Rights visited The Gambia in October, she held constructive meetings across the Government of The Gambia and with civil society on human rights issues. We now look forward to The Gambia’s upcoming Human Rights Universal Periodic Review on 5 November and urge the Government of the Gambia to implement recommendations appropriately in fulfilment of their human rights obligations.The UK will continue to support The Gambia taking specific action to resolve the challenges still to be addressed so that the human rights of all its citizens are respected and protected.

Department for International Development

Developing Countries: Tuberculosis

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment he has made of the effect on identification of tuberculosis cases of the (a) WHO Global Tuberculosis Report published on 17 October 2019 and (b) Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria's Strategy 2017-2022.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Millions of tuberculosis cases continue to go undiagnosed and untreated each year – identifying these is essential to ending the tuberculosis epidemic, which killed 1.5 million people globally in 2018. We are pleased to note the improvement in the number of cases of tuberculosis identified as confirmed by the World Health Organisation Global Tuberculosis Report published on 17 October. 7 million people with tuberculosis were identified globally in 2018, including 600,000 more people than in 2017. The Global Fund has played an important part in this improvement. A joint initiative between the Global Fund, the Stop TB Partnership and the World Health Organisation aims to accelerate progress in finding people with tuberculosis in 13 countries with the highest disease burden. In these countries, by the end of 2018, already more than 800,000 additional patients were found and treated, compared with the baseline of 2015. The UK remains fully committed to achieving the targets set out in the World Health Organisation End Tuberculosis Strategy, recently pledging £1.4 billion to the Sixth Replenishment of the Global Fund.

Developing Countries: Nutrition

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to ensure its programmes on girls’ education integrate nutrition objectives.

Andrew Stephenson: The UK Government is a global leader on girls’ education. Helping poor countries provide 12 years of good quality education, particularly for girls, is a top priority for this Government.We know that in order for children to learn, they need the right nutrients. When children get all the basic nutrients they need in the first 1,000 days of life, they do better in school and earn more as adults.DFID’s 2018 education policy commits us to delivering early education and nutrition interventions together where possible. We are pursuing this by building the evidence base through the new ‘Thrive’ early childhood development research programme and through investments in early education in Rwanda and our funding to the Global Partnership for Education.DFID also funds the Girls’ Education Challenge, the largest global fund dedicated to girls’ education. It is supporting up to 1.5 million girls across 17 countries, and a number of these projects are also delivering joint education and nutrition interventions. For example, the Making Ghanaian Girls Great, Girls’ Education Challenge project in Ghana is supporting marginalised girls with nutrition training on locally available food to ensure they have balanced diets.The UK Government is a global leader on nutrition; we have reached 60.3 million people with nutrition services in 25 countries since 2015.

Developing Countries: Nutrition

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment he has made of the effect of nutrition on preventing deaths of children under the age of five years; and what steps he is taking to integrate nutrition into his Department's health programme through measurable indicators and outcomes.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Malnutrition is the underlying cause of 45% of child deaths. Addressing malnutrition is therefore key for ending preventable deaths, and we have recently announced a renewed commitment to end preventable deaths of mothers, new-borns and children by 2030. The UK championed nutrition as a core aspect of universal health coverage at the high-level meeting at the United Nations General Assembly in September. We are prioritising the integration of highly cost-effective nutrition services, such as breastfeeding promotion and treatment for child wasting, into our health programmes in a range of countries. We are also promoting the inclusion of indicators to track nutrition outcomes.

Venezuela: Internally Displaced People

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent measures his Department is taking to support internally displaced people in Venezuela.

Dr Andrew Murrison: We remain extremely concerned about the humanitarian situation in Venezuela. Over 7 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. The health system has collapsed, leading to the return of deadly diseases such as polio and diphtheria. Venezuelans’ access to basic goods such as medicines and food is extremely limited, leading to high levels of food insecurity and increased child malnutrition. To date we have provided over £4 million in humanitarian aid inside Venezuela to respond to the most severe needs, including supporting malnourished children and providing vaccinations to tackle deadly diseases. Our support is also enabling vulnerable people moving across Venezuela to reconnect with their families through phone calls and internet access. In September the UK announced that we would be significantly increasing our £14.5 million regional response by an additional £30 million to meet the needs of those in Venezuela and across the region; a portion of this will be provided to current partners inside Venezuela in the coming weeks to meet immediate needs while we explore the best options for programming the majority of our new funding in the coming years.The UK is the largest donor to the Education Cannot Wait Fund which has provided $14 million towards the Venezuela crisis response across the region, including $7 million inside Venezuela to support 75,000 children and adolescents by providing better access to education as well as quality and safe learning opportunities.

Venezuela: Refugees

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the UK Government is taking to support Venezuelan refugees and migrants in the countries bordering Venezuela.

Dr Andrew Murrison: As of October 2019, over 4.5 million Venezuelans have left the country, representing around 15% of the population. There are increasing reports of gender-based violence and human trafficking for sexual exploitation as people seek alternative routes out of Venezuela. The UK has provided £2 million to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies across seven countries in the region to meet the immediate basic needs of those on the move including providing emergency shelter and health services. In addition, the UK was the second largest donor to the Global Concessional Financing Facility for Colombia, providing £8 million to help unlock concessional loans to support Colombia in continuing to host over 1.4 million Venezuelans.DFID provides significant core funding to multilateral organisations, including the United Nations and the Red Cross movement, who are providing emergency humanitarian support as part of the international response in the region. In addition, the UK is the largest donor to the Education Cannot Wait Fund which has provided $14 million towards the Venezuela crisis response across the region, including $7 million in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru to support 84,500 children and adolescents from Venezuela and host-communities back into protective, quality learning environments.

Tanzania: Overseas Aid

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much funding his Department has allocated to aid programmes in Tanzania in each of the last three years; and what that funding has been spent on.

Andrew Stephenson: As published in the departmental Annual Report and Accounts, DFID bilateral programme outturns were £180,903,000 in 2016-17; £165,246,000 in 2017-18; and £152,876,000 in 2018-19. UK aid has supported the UK effort to tackle organised crime such as drug trafficking and illegal wildlife trade; improved education access and quality especially for girls and scaled up family planning services; helped reduce infant deaths and stunting through nutrition support; protected the environment by expanding renewable energy services; created jobs and trade by investing in infrastructure and agriculture; and shared the expertise of Britain’s democratic values and traditions to strengthen Tanzania’s judiciary and parliament.

Department for International Development: Secondment

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 29 October 2019 to Question 3787 on Department for International Development: Secondment, what the grades are of the 16 staff members who continue to have their salaries paid by his Department.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The below table shows the breakdown by grade for these DFID staff. We cannot disclose figures lower than 5.GradeCountSCS-G5Fewer than 5A1 (G6)Fewer than 5A2 (G7)7A2L (SEO)Fewer than 5B1 (HEO)Fewer than 5Grand Total16

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if the Government will ensure that its support for the Vaccine Alliance, Gavi, in 2020 will include the objective of improving nutrition for children under the age of five.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Gavi’s mission to save children’s lives by increasing equitable use of vaccines is directly aligned to the UK’s ambition to end preventable deaths of new-born babies and children under 5 years of age by 2030, under Sustainable Development Goal 3, and we have recently renewed our commitment to this goal. The UK is the largest donor to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, committing £1.44 billion between 2016 and 2020. This support will vaccinate 76 million additional children by 2020, saving 1.4 million lives from vaccine-preventable diseases in 68 of the world’s poorest countries. The UK will host the pledging conference for Gavi in June 2020.DFID support to Gavi includes a wider package of health care support designed to strengthen and integrate services. Immunisation is often a child’s first point of contact with their health service. It creates an opportunity where malnourished children can be identified and treated. Vaccines can also prevent some of the infectious diseases and causes of malnutrition.The UK is committed to investment in the integration of nutrition within other sectors, including health. We have championed efforts to achieve universal health coverage by bringing together initiatives on health security, antimicrobial resistance, and nutrition, into a single universal health coverage approach.

Department for Education

Sign Language: GCSE

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2019 to Question 872, what the timescale is for the development of the GCSE in British Sign Language; and whether his Department has set a deadline for its implementation.

Nick Gibb: The Department has not set a deadline for the implementation of a GCSE in British Sign Language (BSL).Implementing a GCSE in BSL requires the draft subject content to meet the rigorous requirements that apply to all GCSEs. If the content meets these criteria, at least one independent awarding organisation will need to develop a specification and have it accredited by Ofqual before a GCSE in BSL can be offered in schools. At this stage, the Department is not able to predict if or when this will happen, but we have indicated that our clear aim is to have a BSL GCSE available as soon as possible.

Schools: Finance

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what funding was allocated to (a) secondary and (b) primary schools in (i) Harborough constituency and (ii) England in 2017-18; and what the provisional allocation is for (A) Harborough constituency and (B) England for 2020-21.

Nick Gibb: Schools block funding figures for 2017-18 and 2020-21 in Leicestershire local authority and England are set out in the table below, with the latter being provisional and subject to finalisation of the Dedicated Schools Grant. Total schools block funding is not allocated to parliamentary constituencies nor by phase.School block funding figuresFinancial Year2017-182020-21 (provisional)Leicestershire (£million)368.3409.7England (£million)33,093.635,593.4

Sex and Relationship Education

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance he has issued to Ofsted on monitoring school's performance in teaching relationships and sex education.

Nick Gibb: From September 2020, the Department is making Relationships Education compulsory for all primary pupils, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) compulsory for all secondary pupils and Health Education compulsory for all pupils in state-funded schools.There is a strong emphasis within the new Ofsted inspection arrangements on schools ensuring that pupils access a broad and balanced curriculum, including the new requirements around the new compulsory subjects, and a new judgement on pupils’ personal development, which is particularly relevant to these areas.Ofsted’s school inspection handbook contains a specific section on RSE which sets out the requirements on schools. If a school is failing to meet its obligations, inspectors will consider this when reaching the judgement on pupils’ personal development.

Higher Education

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his oral answer of 9 September 2019, Official Report, column 476, which higher education institutions the Government is working closely with; and what steps his Department is taking to help ensure the diversity of (a) the higher education sector and (b) small and specialist education institutions in the event of the UK leaving the EU without an agreement.

Chris Skidmore: The Department for Education is working closely with higher education (HE) representative bodies – including Universities UK, GuildHE, Independent HE, Russell Group and others, representing the full spectrum of HE providers across the UK – to ensure we communicate the government’s Brexit guidance, including on No Deal, effectively to providers. Through the Office for Students, we have also communicated guidance to all HE providers on its register for providers.On 28 October, we updated our GOV.UK page to help providers understand the action they need to take. This links to wider government guidance on the range of issues providers need to consider, from helping EU staff and students to continue living in the UK after 2020 to how to register for the government’s guarantee on Erasmus+ funding. This page can be found here and we will continue to keep it updated: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/eu-exit-no-deal-preparations-for-higher-education-institutions/eu-exit-no-deal-preparations-for-higher-education-institutions.

Sex and Relationship Education

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress he has made on implementing the new Relationship and Sex Education curriculum in early adopter schools.

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools have registered to be early adopters of the new Relationship and Sex Education curriculum.

Nick Gibb: All schools are encouraged to start teaching the new subjects of Relationship Education (primary), Relationships and Sex Education (secondary), and Health Education (primary and secondary state-funded schools) from this academic year.By 30 June 2019, over 1,600 schools had registered their interest in becoming early adopters of the new compulsory subjects. We are hosting 4 regional conferences in October and November 2019 for these schools. The key aim of the conferences is to ensure that schools are on track to deliver high-quality teaching, with a focus on knowledge-rich curriculum planning.

Schools: Radicalism

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps the Government has taken to tackle extremism in schools.

Nick Gibb: All children must be safe wherever they are educated, and the Department is committed to ensuring that children are safe from extremism and radicalisation.The Department is actively working with the education sector, national and local partners to safeguard children and young people from these risks. This includes supporting schools to effectively implement their obligations under the Prevent duty; to protect young people from radicalising influences; ensuring that schools are equipped to build children’s resilience against extremist ideologies; and taking firm action where extremism concerns arise.The Department has carried out its own regulatory action and supported the Teaching Regulation Agency to prohibit individuals from being involved in education, including where there are substantiated concerns about their extremist views or activities. The Department has also developed a new online form to allow for concerns regarding extremism within the education sector to be reported directly to the Department, to complement our existing counter-extremism helpline.The Department also continues to update the Educate Against Hate website, which brings together the best advice, support and resources available for parents, teachers and school leaders, to help them protect young people from extremism and radicalisation.The Department continues to fund, with the Home Office, a network of Prevent Education Officers, who provide expertise and support directly to schools and teachers on Prevent implementation.The Department has also worked with Ofsted to further strengthen their inspection framework to ensure that all schools are helping to prepare children for life in modern Britain, including through their requirement to promote our shared values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and respect and tolerance of those with other faiths and beliefs.

Free School Meals: Romford

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils are in receipt of free school meals in Romford constituency.

Michelle Donelan: The most recent figures for the number of pupils eligible for and claiming free school meals come from the school census for January 2019 which was published in June 2019. 1,842 pupils from Romford constituency were eligible for and claiming free school meals at that time.Further information can be found in the annual ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’ statistical release, which can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-and-pupil-numbers.

Class Sizes: Romford

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the pupil to teacher ratio is, including teaching assistants, in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in Romford constituency.

Nick Gibb: The following table provides the average pupil to teacher ratio in state funded primary and state funded secondary schools in Romford constituency and England as reported by schools in November 2018. Pupil : teacher ratio[1] State Funded PrimaryState Funded SecondaryEngland20 : 916 : 3Romford21 : 815 : 5Source: School Workforce Census Pupil teacher ratios are available at school, local authority and regional level in the publication ‘School Workforce in England, November 2018’ available at the following web link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2018. Combined ratios including teaching assistants are not routinely published. Pupil : adult ratios are available by phase at national level and are available in the web link provided above (Table 17a). [1] The England figures are calculated by dividing the total full-time equivalent (FTE) number of pupils on roll in schools in each year by the total number of teachers in schools each year. Where schools are not open on Census day, for both the School Workforce Census (November), and the School Census (January) they are excluded. Schools that do not provide either pupil or teacher figures are also excluded. See School Workforce Census methodology document for further information: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/811619/SWFC_Methodology.pdf.

Pre-school Education: Finance

Mr Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2019 to Question 1676, for how long he will maintain supplementary funding for local authorities to preserve the funding rates of maintained nursery schools.

Nick Gibb: The Government recognises that maintained nursery schools are an important part of the early years sector and that they provide valuable services to disadvantaged children.The Government invests approximately £60 million of supplementary funding each financial year for local authorities to preserve the funding rates of maintained nursery schools.The Government plans to spend £3.6 billion to support early education in the financial year 2020-21. I confirmed details of this spending review in a written statement to the House on 31 October 2019, available here: https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2019-10-31/HCWS56/.

Apprentices: Offshore Industry and Shipping

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to encourage employers in the (a) shipping and (b) offshore energy sectors to offer apprenticeships.

Michelle Donelan: The government has reformed apprenticeships to include new high-quality apprenticeship standards that meet the needs of employers across all industries.There are 118 Engineering and Manufacturing standards available for employers in the shipbuilding industry to choose from, and a total of 507 standards available across a wide range of sectors from Business and Administration, to Health and Science.The Engineering Technician standard at Level 3 has been developed by employers, including employers in the defence industry such as BAE Systems, Babcock and the Royal Navy. This standard includes the following maritime defence pathways: Maritime Electrical Fitter, Maritime Mechanical Fitter, Maritime Fabricator, and Maritime Pipeworker. More detail on the standard can be found on the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education’s website at: https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/apprenticeship-standards/engineering-technician/.Employers in all sectors across England, including the shipping and offshore energy sectors, can use their apprenticeship levy funds to invest in these new high-quality apprenticeship standards, unlocking the productivity benefits associated with employing apprentices.In the 2019-20 financial year, the funding available for investment in apprenticeships in England is over £2.5 billion, which is double what we spent in 2010-11.We are working with all sectors as they produce their skills deals and we encourage them to consider the opportunities and apprenticeships they offer, by building them into their plans. The National Apprenticeship Service is supporting employers to develop their apprenticeship programmes. More information on apprenticeships is available at: https://www.apprenticeships.gov.uk/.

Department for Education: International Men's Day

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his Department has to mark International Men's Day on 19 November 2019.

Chris Skidmore: No one should suffer unfair treatment because of their gender. Every year International Men’s Day offers an opportunity to highlight how outcomes for men and boys can be improved and to talk about some of the important work going on every day across the government to do this. The work ranges from the introduction of shared parental leave, which allows men to take time away from the workplace and bond with their new children, benefitting that crucial long-term relationship for both parent and child, to our programme tackling lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender bullying in schools which seeks to protect those who may be victimised. As part of the Department’s Diversity and Inclusion calendar, one of our monthly awareness months focused on Men’s Health and Wellbeing. Colleagues were encouraged to talk about issues and to challenge some of the cultural norms around what it means to be vulnerable. The government is also working with local authorities to ensure their suicide prevention plans support more men and in the Domestic Abuse Bill we propose to create a statutory definition of domestic abuse that makes clear men also can be victims of this abhorrent crime.

Department for Education: Solar Power

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the objectives are of his Department's 4-year Solar Framework Market Engagement; and how much funding has been allocated to the project from his Department's (a) capital and (b) revenue budgets.

Nick Gibb: The objectives of the market engagement are to: establish potential future procurement options available to the Department, gather market intelligence with regard to supplier capabilities, and enable a decision-making process to determine if a Departmental Solar PV Framework is 1) required and 2) would be beneficial. No funding has been allocated as this work is being carried out through the Department’s capital direct sourcing team’s business as usual activities and forms part of their five year procurement programme.

Schools: Uniforms

Ms Lisa Forbes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 31 July 2019 to Question 280408 on Schools: Uniforms, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of issuing guidance on school uniforms under (a) section 88 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 and (b) section 175 of the Education Act 2002.

Nick Gibb: This Government has announced its plan to put the school uniform guidance on a statutory footing.

Family Rights Group: Finance

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has plans to maintain funding for the Family Rights Group family advice line beyond March 2020.

Michelle Donelan: The department’s grant funding to the Family Rights Group for running the Family and Friends Helpline, which supports Kinship Carers, ends on 31 March 2020. The Treasury has now allocated budgets for 2020-21 only. The department will conduct any necessary procurement work for grants and contracts in due course.

Children: Protection

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support his Department is providing to local authorities to improve their support for vulnerable children.

Michelle Donelan: All children should have access to the support they need to keep them safe, provide them with a stable and nurturing home, and overcome challenges to achieve their potential. That is why at the Spending Round 2019, the government confirmed an additional £1 billion grant for adult and children’s social care in 2020-21 in addition to the continuation of all existing social care grants.Local authorities core spending power is expected to rise from £46.2 billion to £49.1 billion in 2020-21, an estimated 4.3% real terms increase.We also provide targeted help and support to drive improvement in local authorities. We are investing £20 million in regional sector-led improvement to get ahead of failure. Our strong ‘Partner in Practice’ authorities have already helped over 70 local authorities, getting upstream of the risk of failure, with work underway to broker support for many more.Additionally, we are investing £2 million in improving leadership in children's services with support being delivered through the Local Government Association. In addition to the £84 million targeted fund, Autumn Budget made £410 million available to local authorities for adults and children’s social care in 2019-20.

Apprentices: Taxation

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the October 2019 report Learning and Work Institute report, Bridging the Gap: next steps for the apprenticeship levy, which has found that the levy fund could be overspent by £1 billion in the next year.

Michelle Donelan: The apprenticeship levy is collected by HM Revenue and Customs from all UK employers with a pay bill above £3 million. Separately, HM Treasury sets the Department for Education a fixed, annual budget for apprenticeships in England. This budget is distinct from the levy and is used to fund new apprenticeship starts for both levy and non-levy paying employers, and must also cover the ongoing costs of apprentices already in training.  We welcome employers designing higher-level apprenticeships which are longer and require more off-the-job training. However, we are conscious that this will increase costs in the longer-term. In 2019-20, funding available for investment in apprenticeships in England is over £2.5 billion and we expect to remain within budget this financial year. The recent spending settlement has set the department’s budget for 2020-21. We keep apprenticeships funding policy under review to ensure that apprenticeships continue to be affordable and offer value for money for the taxpayer. We will consider how apprenticeships can continue to meet the changing needs of employers as part of the forthcoming Spending Review.

Children: Social Services

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of trends in the level of central Government funding for local authorities on the adequacy of children's services provided by local authorities.

Michelle Donelan: The number of inadequate local authorities has fallen by a third from 30 in April 2017 to 17 at the end of October 2019, as a result of our reforms.Local authorities have been given access to over £200 billion in the 5 years since Spending Review 2015. The Spending Round 2019 also confirmed an additional £1 billion grant for adult and children’s social care services in 2020-21 in addition to the continuation of existing social care grants.

Children: Protection

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support his Department is providing to improve local authority support for vulnerable children.

Michelle Donelan: All children should have access to the support they need to keep them safe, provide them with a stable and nurturing home, and overcome challenges to achieve their potential. That is why, at the Spending Round 2019, the government confirmed an additional £1 billion grant for adult and children’s social care in 2020-21 in addition to the continuation of all existing social care grants.Local authorities core spending power is expected to rise from £46.2 billion to £49.1 billion in 2020/21, an estimated 4.3% real terms increase.We also provide targeted help and support to drive improvement in local authorities. We are investing £20 million in regional sector-led improvement to get ahead of failure. Our strong ‘Partner in Practice’ authorities have already helped over 70 local authorities, getting upstream of the risk of failure, with work underway to broker support for many more. Additionally, we are investing £2 million in improving leadership in children's services with support being delivered through the local government authority. In addition to the £84 million targeted fund, the Autumn Budget made £410 million available to local authorities for adults and children’s social care in 2019/20.

Academies: Special Educational Needs

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what accountability process is in place to ensure that academies implement SEND children's Education, Health and Care Plans.

Michelle Donelan: All schools, including academies, have a duty under the Children and Families Act 2014 to identify and support the special educational needs and disabilities of pupils, whether or not they have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan.Where a child has an EHC plan, the local authority that issued it has a statutory duty to ensure that the specified special educational provision is delivered by the named school, which could be an academy. If a parent believes a school is not delivering the support specified for their child in an EHC plan, they can take this up with the school through its published complaints procedure or directly with the local authority.If this does not resolve the parent’s concerns, either the parent or the local authority is able to ask the Department for Education for a determination on whether the school has failed to carry out a statutory duty or has done so in an unreasonable way. Where officials find that a school has failed to carry out a statutory duty or has done so in an unreasonable way, they can make an order on behalf of my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education requiring the school to put matters right, if this would be expedient.

Schools: St Helens

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department made of the effect of trends in the level of school spending per pupil in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens on pupil educational achievement between 2010 and 2019.

Nick Gibb: Schools in St. Helens will attract 4.8% more per pupil next year, a total of £5.9 million of additional funding compared to 2019-20 (subject to changes in pupil numbers). Local authorities’ allocations are provisional at this stage. The pupil premium was introduced in 2011 as additional funding to help schools improve the progress and attainment of disadvantaged pupils. In 2019-20, schools in St Helens local authority are being allocated £9,670,780 in pupil premium funding, compared to £2,645,000 in 2011-12. The increase in funding is due to changes in the number of pupils eligible for free school meals, the extension of pupil premium eligibility criteria to cover a wider range of pupils, and increases in pupil premium funding rates per pupil. The factors correlated with trends in pupil attainment are wide ranging and complex. They include school and pupil characteristics such as gender, ethnicity and disadvantage amongst others. The Department has not undertaken a specific assessment of the trends between school spending per pupil and pupil educational achievement in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens between 2010 and 2019. Data on the achievement of pupils at Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4 in each local authority can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-key-stage-2.https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-gcses-key-stage-4. Nationally, the Government is investing a cash increase of £2.6 billion to core schools funding next year, with increases of £4.8 billion and £7.1 billion in 2021-22 and 2022-23 respectively. This is in addition to the £1.5 billion per year the Department will continue to provide to fund additional pension costs for teachers over the next three years, meaning the total core schools budget will rise to £52.2 billion by 2022-23.

Children in Care: Missing Persons

Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the proportion of looked-after children in children’s homes who have gone missing from children’s homes (a) in borough and (b) out of borough in each year since 2012.

Michelle Donelan: The number and percentage of looked-after children in children’s homes who were reported missing by placement location since 2015 is shown in the attached table.The latest figures on looked-after children who were missing are published in Table G1 of the statistical release ‘Children looked after in England including adoption: 2017 to 2018’ at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2017-to-2018.All figures on the overall number of children who were looked after during the year and were missing, are still classified as experimental statistics. The figures were collected for the first time in 2015 and should be treated with caution. As these statistics are experimental, the figures are not comparable across years.



7068_Table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 58.5 KB)

Children and Young People: Mental Health

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the mental health of (a) children under 12 and (b) young people under 18 of terrorist attacks near their school or home.

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of terrorist attacks on the academic progression of (a) children under 12 and (b) young people under 18 who live near to the place an attack happened.

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that the (a) emotional, (b) organisational and (c) training needs of teachers are met when they support students who are (i) vulnerable and (ii) experiencing mental health issues as a result of terrorist incidents near their school or home.

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to train and support senior leadership teams in schools to support their students after a terrorist attack close to the school or homes of their students.

Nick Gibb: ​The Department is committed to supporting schools to promote good mental wellbeing, provide a supportive environment for pupils experiencing problems and secure access to more specialist help for those who need it. This can be especially important for children who have experienced trauma. In November 2018, the Department updated its advice on Mental Health and Behaviour in Schools. It directs schools towards information on how trauma and adverse childhood experiences such as bereavement can affect individual children and how schools can adapt their approach to support these pupils within the context of a school environment which sets clear expectations of behaviour and clear routines. It also highlights the importance of continuous professional development to ensure staff have the knowledge and confidence to identify the early signs of mental health problems.The Department is taking forward the proposals set out in our green paper ‘Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision’. There are three core commitments, which are intended to support local areas to support children and young people’s mental health as quickly as possible.The commitments will incentivise all schools and colleges to identify and train a Senior Mental Health Lead; to fund new Mental Health Support Teams (which will be supervised by NHS children and young people’s mental health staff) and the piloting of a four-week waiting time for access to specialist NHS children and young people’s mental health services. As part of the Green Paper proposals, the Government also committed to provide Mental Health Awareness Training for a member of staff from all state funded secondary schools in England by March 2020. This programme is funded and managed by DHSC.The Department provides support for schools to help them manage their security effectively so that they can meet their obligations and ensure they have in place sensible and proportionate security policies and plans, covering various scenarios – including terrorism.  As part of our regular review, the Department has been working with educational institutions and local authorities to better understand what role it should play in supporting institutions to better prepare for and respond to a terrorist incident that affects the sector.  As a result, the Department has developed incident response guidance. This guidance signposts resources and highlights areas for consideration in the immediate aftermath and the days and weeks following a terrorist incident that affects pupils, students or staff. A key part of the guidance is signposting resources for those experiencing mental health issues as a result of terrorist incidents near their school or home. The Department works closely with the cross-government Victims of Terrorism Unit to ensure the guidance we provide is accurate and includes the most relevant, up to date material. We expect to publish this in November.

Apprentices: Standards

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether Government regulators are able to undertake end-point assessments of trained apprentices using Trailblazer Apprenticeships standards.

Michelle Donelan: Assessors from any organisation undertaking end-point assessment must be on the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s register of end-point assessment organisations (EPAOs). If an organisation can demonstrate their capability and capacity to deliver, and are not involved in the on-programme delivery of the standard either as a training provider or employer, they are eligible to apply to be an EPAO.All end-point assessments are subject to external quality assurance by an independent external body to ensure the consistency of high-quality assessments and maintained standards. Regulators such as Ofqual, provide external quality assurance.

Apprentices: Shipping

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the amount of sea time required by employee to qualify as an Able Seafarer (Deck) apprentice.

Michelle Donelan: This is a matter for the Institute for Apprenticeships. I have asked its Chief Executive, Sir Gerry Berragan, to write to the hon. Member and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Department for Education: Digital Technology

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, who is responsible for digitisation in his Department; and what mechanisms the person with responsibility for digitisation uses to champion digitisation.

Chris Skidmore: The Chief Digital Officer (CDO), Emma Stace, is responsible for leading Digital Delivery across the Department for Education (DfE). The DfE Transformation Aims involve promoting user-centred, end-to-end service design and delivery across the whole department. The CDO and policy directors have jointly sponsored scoping work to identify opportunities for the development of digital services to deliver better outcomes for our users and continue the transformation of DfE into a service delivery department. The Digital, Data and Technology (DDT) Directorates within DfE are supporting the government-wide focus on the development of “digital maturity”, developing the department’s processes, tools, infrastructure and capabilities. In support of this, the CDO is promoting the development of the community of service owners, sharing experience and best practice and identifying how the DfE can continue to develop to better support the development and delivery of digital services. This includes work to grow and develop DDT capability across the department, including through improving recruitment, training and procurement. The DfE works with the Government Digital Service to provide assurance against the Government Service Standards, to ensure that the services being delivered are high quality, user centred, and delivering value to users.

Children: Sports

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the role that summer holiday clubs play in supporting the ambition set out in the Government's School Sport and Activity Action Plan to help children undertake more physical activity.

Nick Gibb: The Government’s School Sport and Activity Action Plan, published in July, provides children with a greater opportunity to do 60 minutes of sport and physical activity every day inside and outside school. The Department is investing £2.5 million in 2019-20 to support schools to improve their physical education and school sport offer to pupils, including helping schools to open up their facilities beyond the school day. The £320 million PE and Sport Premium supports primary schools to make additional and sustainable improvements to the quality of their physical education, physical activity and sport including extra-curricular activities after school and holiday clubs. In addition, the Government’s Holiday Activities and Food programme aims to provide children with access to free healthy food and enriching activities over the summer, including physical activity. In 2019, the Department invested £9 million in 11 local authority areas and have just launched a bidding round for a further £9 million for 2020.The Department has commissioned an independent evaluation of the 2019 programme which will report early next year.

Children: Sports

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of holiday clubs in (a) helping children remain physically active outside of school terms and (b) reducing childhood obesity.

Nick Gibb: The activities on offer at clubs funded through our Holiday Activities and Food programme will vary but our minimum standards set out that they must deliver activities that meet physical activity guidelines; provide food which meets School Food Standards; and provide nutritional education. The independent evaluation of our 2019 programme will be published in 2020.The Government’s School Sport and Activity Action Plan, published in July 2019, sets out the cross-government action plan to provide children with greater opportunity to do 60 minutes of sport and physical activity every day, inside and outside school.

Children: Mental Health

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that students who are particularly vulnerable to mental health issues are (a) identified and (b) receive support after a terrorist incident near their school or home.

Nick Gibb: I refer the hon. Member for Coventry South to the answer I gave on 4 November 2019 to Questions 7039, 7040, 7041, and 7042.

University Technical Colleges: Standards

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to increase the number of University Technical Colleges achieving good and outstanding Ofsted reports.

Michelle Donelan: The department wants university technical colleges (UTCs) to flourish so that they offer a high standard of education for young people who want to follow a technical pathway.We have been supporting UTCs to improve their educational performance through a range of measures, including funding intensive support from a local teaching school and providing advice, guidance and challenge from experienced secondary education experts. We are also encouraging and supporting UTCs to join multi-academy trusts, which we believe is the best way to ensure they improve educationally, as well as helping improve their financial viability.The department has also introduced several measures to support pupil recruitment in UTCs. Changes in the Technical and Further Education Act 2017 (known as the Baker Clause), introduced in January 2018, require maintained schools and academies to provide opportunities for providers of technical education, such as UTCs, to visit schools to talk to students in years 8-13, to inform them of their offer. UTCs are also now able to apply to the department to extend their age range to 11-19, further embedding them in their local education landscape, and widening the offer to local pupils.Strong UTCs help young people progress into further education, employment and apprenticeships. In 2016, 87% of students who left a UTC progressed into a sustained destination after key stage 5, which is higher than the national average for all schools and colleges. 21% progressed into sustained apprenticeships, double the national average.

Supply Teachers: Training

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure supply teachers are sufficiently trained in the subjects they teach.

Nick Gibb: Headteachers use their professional judgement to decide the structure of the school’s workforce, including recruiting and deploying staff in a way that best meets the needs of their school and pupils. Schools, academies, and local authorities are responsible for the recruitment of their supply teachers, which includes deciding whether to use private supply agencies to fill temporary posts and teacher absences, and the level of training required to teach those subjects.The Education (Specified Work) (England) Regulations 2012 set out the qualifications for teachers employed by schools, including supply teachers. In maintained schools, teachers must hold Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), except those who satisfy the requirements for non-qualified teachers to carry out specified work set out in the Education (Specified Work) (England) Regulations 2012, for example, instructors with special qualifications or experience.Academies and Free Schools can employ teaching staff without the automatic requirement for them to hold QTS. This applies equally to supply teachers and teachers employed by schools. The Education (Specified Work) (England) Regulations 2012 are available here: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/762/introduction/made.To be awarded QTS, a teacher must demonstrate that they meet all of the Teachers’ Standards at the appropriate level, including those relating to subject knowledge. The Teachers’ Standards are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teachers-standards.The Department has launched a new deal in conjunction with the Crown Commercial Service to improve agency practices and support schools with getting value for money when hiring agency workers. Agencies on the deal must be open with schools and staff about the rates they charge, conduct consistent, rigorous background screening checks, and adhere to strict controls around the charging of temp-to-perm fees. Information on the guidance included in the deal is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/deal-for-schools-hiring-supply-teachers-and-agency-workers.

Primary Education: National Curriculum Tests

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support the mental well-being of primary school students undertaking Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 examinations.

Nick Gibb: The Department’s aim is for all children to leave primary school feeling that they have worked hard and achieved all that they can. We do not want assessments to worry pupils and impact their self-esteem or mental wellbeing. In response to the consultation on the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Green Paper, published July 2018, the Government has made several commitments to help safeguard the mental wellbeing of primary school children. We confirmed our commitment to take forward three core proposals which will transform support for children and young people by: putting in place Mental Health Support Teams for schools; incentivising every school to have a Designated Senior Lead for mental health; and the piloting of a four-week waiting time standard for NHS Children and Young People’s mental health services. The Government has also committed to mental health awareness training for a member of staff from all state funded primary schools by 2022, providing further support for schools to help promote mental wellbeing for all children.

Supply Teachers: Expenditure

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of the schools budget was spent on supply teachers in (a) St Helens borough, (b) the Liverpool city region and (c) England in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Nick Gibb: The Department publishes annual income and expenditure, including on supply teachers, for local authority maintained schools and academies.Schools’ Consistent Financial Reporting and Academies’ Accounting Returns are published and available at the following link: https://schools-financial-benchmarking.service.gov.uk/Help/DataSources.Spending on supply teaching staff comprises the following categories: supply teaching staff, plus supply teacher insurance, plus agency supply teaching staff, minus receipts from supply teacher insurance claims.

Special Educational Needs: Merseyside

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding his Department has allocated to the (a) Liverpool city region and (b) St Helens borough to support children with SEND in each year since April 2010.

Michelle Donelan: Funding for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is drawn from the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG).Local authorities are required to provide sufficient funds to enable schools to meet the cost of additional support for pupils with SEND, up to the value of £6,000.When the costs of additional support required for a pupil with SEND exceed £6,000, the local authority should also allocate additional top-up funding to cover the excess costs. This top-up funding, and funding for special schools, comes from the local authority’s high needs block of the DSG.In 2013, the schools and high needs funding blocks DSG were created. As the DSG includes other funding such as for early years, the department is unable to provide comparable figures before the creation of the blocks within the DSG in 2013-14.The high needs funding allocations for those children with more complex SEND, from 2013-14, are set out below.  For Liverpool city region (which includes the following local authorities: Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral):YearHigh needs funding allocation2013-14£148.9 million2014-15£155.0 million2015-16£157.5 million2016-17£157.9 million2017-18£162.3 million2018-19£169.4 million*2019-20£174.1 million*2020-21 provisional allocations£198.5 million For St Helen’s borough:YearHigh needs funding allocation2013-14£17.1 million2014-15£17.8 million2015-16£18.4 million2016-17£18.4 million2017-18£18.7 million2018-19£22.4 million*2019-20£22.3 million*2020-21 provisional allocations£24.1 million *In December 2018, the department allocated an additional £250 million of high needs funding, in recognition of funding pressures. This additional funding is included within the final totals displayed.

Children: Day Care

Jeremy Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many parents who are students are eligible for 15 and not 30 free hours of childcare.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education does not hold any data on the number of students eligible for the universal 15 hours free childcare and not eligible for the additional 15 hours free childcare entitlements.The Government recognises the value of parents continuing in education and therefore funds childcare support for eligible students studying a publicly-funded higher education course. Parents under 20 can apply for Care to Learn which provides financial support for childcare so young parents can complete their post-16 education.Parents aged 19 or over and in further education can apply for Discretionary Learner Support, for example, if they are studying for an NVQ, BTEC or PGCE.

Apprentices: Taxation

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Government’s apprenticeship and levy statistics, published in October 2019, how many of the 780 recorded accounts of apprenticeship levy voucher transfers resulting on starts on standards were transferred from levy-paying companies to non-levy paying small to medium-sized employers; and what proportion of those apprenticeships were in the construction sector.

Michelle Donelan: Levy-paying employers in England do not use digital vouchers. Employers that pay the apprenticeship levy use funds in their apprenticeship service accounts to pay for training and assessment and to transfer to other employers In October 2019, the apprenticeships and levy statistics publication reported that there were 780 transferred commitments that have materialised into apprenticeship starts as recorded on the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) as at 31 August 2019. Of these, 20 (2.7%) were starts in the Construction, Planning and Built Environment sector subject area.Please note: 1) The figures above are rounded to the nearest 10 and percentage to 1 decimal place.2) The percentage is derived from unrounded figures.3) The figures above show only those transfers where a start is taking place on a standard in the Construction, Planning and Built Environment sector subject area. The construction industry sector could include starts on standards in other sector subject areas (i.e. Business, Administration and Law).   We are unable to identify whether a transfer between apprenticeship service accounts was from a levy-paying company to a non-levy paying company as we do not centrally hold data on the size of employer and their industry sector. This means we cannot identify if these transfers of levy funds were to the apprenticeship service accounts of small to medium-sized employers. The Department for Education does, however, periodically perform an analysis linking ILR data to the Inter-Departmental Business Register data (held by the Office for National Statistics) to identify the size and industry sector of employers, with the most recent analysis covering the 2016/17 academic year. Thes statistics are available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/apprenticeships-in-england-by-industry-characteristics.

Apprentices: Construction

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Level 2 apprenticeship starts there were in construction in (a) 2018-19, (b) 2017-18, (c) 2016-17 and (d) 2015-16.

Michelle Donelan: The below table shows level 2 apprenticeship starts in the construction industry sector for the 2015/16 and 2016/17 academic years. This is the latest available data, and it is taken from the ‘Apprenticeships in England by Industry Characteristics’ statistics publication: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/apprenticeships-in-england-by-industry-characteristics.Table 1: Level 2 apprenticeship starts in the construction industry sector: 2015/16 to 2016/17Academic yearNumber of level 2 apprenticeship starts2015/1619,4702016/1718,390Notes:1) All numbers are rounded to the nearest 10. We also publish apprenticeship starts by sector subject area. The number of level 2 apprenticeship starts for the sector subject area ‘Construction, Planning and the Built Environment’ for the academic years 2015/16 to 2017/18 is shown in the table below, along with starts in the first 3 quarters of the 2018/19 academic year. Data for 2015/16 to 2017/18 are published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/804343/Monthly-apprenticeship-starts-fwk-tool_May-2019.xlsx.Data for the first 3 quarters of 2018/19 are published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/814997/Apprenticeship-starts-ach-framework-standard-tool_201718_Q3-201819_July2019.xlsx.  Table 2: Level 2 apprenticeship starts in Construction, Planning and the Built Environment sector subject area: 2015/16 to Q3 2018/19Academic yearNumber of level 2 apprenticeship starts2015/1616,6702016/1715,8402017/1814,7702018/19 (August to April 19) provisional11,630 Notes:1) The data source is the Individualised Learner Record (ILR).2) In this table, numbers are a count of the number of starts at any point during the period. Learners starting more than one apprenticeship will appear more than once.3) Apprenticeship starts include all funded and unfunded learners reported on the ILR.4) For the 2018/19 academic year (reported to date), numbers are counted only for months August 18 to April 19 (quarter 3).5) All numbers are rounded to the nearest 10.

Apprentices: Construction

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how a student completing an On-Site Construction T Level will transition onto a Level 2 apprenticeship in bricklaying should that student need more training in hand skills on that specialist pathway.

Michelle Donelan: The T level in On-Site Construction incorporates a number of occupational standards, including level 2 Bricklayer. A T level student who chooses the bricklaying occupational specialism will therefore develop many of the skills included in the level 2 Bricklayer apprenticeship. Once the T level qualification has been approved, we will be able to assess more accurately any differences between the competence conveyed by the level 2 Bricklayer apprenticeship and the T level in On-Site Construction.Under current apprenticeship rules, a T level student would be able to progress to a level 2 apprenticeship if it allows them to acquire substantive new skills and the content of the training is materially different from their T level. The apprenticeship would need to be a minimum of 12 months in duration and involve at least 20% off-the-job training.Our analysis of the overlap between the approved T level qualification and the level 2 apprenticeship will therefore be important in determining progression options, including eligibility for an apprenticeship at the same or a lower level.

Vocational Guidance: Construction

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress he has made on promoting the vocational pathways available for students wishing to pursue a career in construction to (a) teachers, (b) students, (c) careers advisors and (d) parents and guardians.

Michelle Donelan: Careers guidance is improving steadily across the country following the publication of the government’s careers strategy in December 2017. Schools and colleges are making good progress against the Gatsby benchmarks and showing improvements on every dimension of careers support. That means that young people are getting better information about the labour market, different education and training pathways and access to personal guidance to formulate ideas into a careers plan. Teachers are helping students to link their curriculum learning to future careers.Through the Baker Clause, the department is improving the visibility and quality of advice on vocational routes by requiring schools to invite other providers to talk to students about the technical qualifications and apprenticeships that they offer.The Careers & Enterprise Company is making sure that every young person has access to encounters with employers from a variety of sectors, which may include the construction industry. Information on a variety of careers, including construction, can also be found on the National Careers Service website.The department promotes technical pathways, including for students interested in construction. We recently launched our T level communications campaign, aimed at young people, parents, teachers and employers. A new website (www.tlevels.gov.uk.) includes the function to search for providers delivering T levels from September 2020, including those in Construction (‘Design, Surveying and Planning’).Apprenticeships available in the sector include Construction Site Engineering Technician, Installation Electrician and Civil Engineering Site Management. Our apprenticeships campaign, Fire It Up, demonstrates that apprenticeships are an aspirational choice for anyone with passion and energy. We have also developed Amazing Apprenticeships, a website and resource portal for schools and teachers.In addition, we offer a free service to schools through the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge (ASK) project to ensure that teachers have the knowledge and support to enable them to promote apprenticeships to their students. During the 2018-19 academic year, the ASK programme reached over 300,000 students across 2,368 establishments and from September 2019, it has been extended to include years 7 to 9.

Apprentices: Taxation

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the ability of apprenticeship levy paying employers to transfer levy funds to non-levy paying employers.

Michelle Donelan: We are committed to supporting employers to engage with apprenticeships to help invest in the long-term skills needs of their business. We have already seen employers making use of transfers to support apprenticeship starts in their supply chains, or to meet local skills needs. Since April 2018 there have been 1,020 transferred commitments where the transfer of funds between apprenticeship service accounts had been approved. Of these transferred commitments, 780 have so far resulted in apprenticeship starts.We have taken a number of steps to make it easier for levy-paying employers to transfer funds to other employers. In response to employer feedback, in April 2019 we raised the cap on transfers to 25% of the annual value of funds entering levy-payers’ apprenticeship service accounts. We have also announced that we will shortly enable levy payers to transfer funds to cover the full cost of training for 16 to 18 year olds in the smallest businesses with fewer than 50 employers.Transfers give levy-paying employers more options in how they use their levy funds, as well as creating apprenticeship opportunities for organisations who may have previously felt that employing an apprentice was beyond their reach. We are pleased to see that levy payers with uncommitted funds are increasingly using transfers to support apprenticeship starts in non-levy paying employers.

Apprentices

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the trends in the level of apprenticeship starts for people aged (a) 16, (b) 17 and (c) 18 years old.

Michelle Donelan: Our reforms to apprenticeships have fundamentally changed what apprenticeships are and the long-term opportunities they provide for people of all ages and backgrounds. We publish data on apprenticeship starts by demographic on a quarterly basis. The most recent data can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/815288/Apprenticeship-starts-ach-detailed-demographic_201718_Q3-201819_July2019.xlsx. The table below shows an extract of apprenticeships starts data by the ages requested from the 2016/17 and 2017/18 academic years, as well as data for quarter 1 to 3 of the 2017/18 and 2018/19 academic years. Full data for the 2018/19 academic year will be published on 28 November at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/further-education-and-skills-official-statistics.   Age2016/172017/182017/18  Q1-Q32018/19  Q1-Q31629,05025,33022,31020,8801741,11035,02029,33026,4501852,39046,09038,62035,980All Ages494,900375,800290,500311,200 There have been 311,200 apprenticeship starts reported in the first 3 quarters of the 2018/19 academic year, a 7.1% rise compared to the same period in the 2017/18 academic year. In parallel, we continue to see a reduction in the number of level 2 starts during the first 3 quarters of the 2018/19 academic year, down 10% compared to the same point the previous year. We know that 16-18 year olds in particular are more likely to undertake a level 2 apprenticeship and therefore be affected by this reduction. This change in level 2 starts has largely occurred where apprenticeships were struggling to meet the minimum quality standards required by our reforms. We are replacing old-style frameworks, which apprentices and employers told us were not providing the skills they needed, with new employer-designed standards. Apprenticeships are intended to take people to a point of full competence in their chosen occupation. It is therefore possible for a young person with limited experience to achieve a level 3 apprenticeship. In 2018/19 we have seen growth in level 3 Engineering starts in particular for 16 ,17 and 18 year olds. Overall, we continue to see strong take up of standards with 63% of starts so far in 2018/19 on high-quality standards, compared to 44% in 2017/18. Levels of young people not in education, training or employment are at a record low and apprenticeships play an important role in getting young people into work. We will continue to monitor the impact of our apprenticeship reforms on 16-18 year olds.

Apprentices: Taxation

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of GTA England members that have been unable to access apprenticeship funding since the apprenticeship levy was introduced.

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with (a) GTA England, (b) Association of Employment and Learning Providers, (c) Learning and Work Institute  and (d) Association of Colleges on the adequacy of the level of allocation of apprenticeship levy funds for non-levy paying registered charities.

Michelle Donelan: We are committed to ensuring that our reforms to apprenticeships work for smaller employers and their providers, such as group training associations (GTAs). GTAs are important members of the training provider market, working for groups of employers to provide high quality training. We ran a procurement exercise to secure high-quality training to support small and medium-sized employers from January 2018 to April 2019. This was a highly competitive exercise attracting interest from a wide range of training providers and we recognise that not all providers were successful in the competition. The contracts we awarded have been subsequently extended to April 2020, supported by over £700 million funding for new starts and existing apprentices. In addition to these contracts, the smaller employers are also able to receive transfers from levy-paying employers, allowing GTAs access to levy-funded training. We have also announced that we will shortly enable levy payers to transfer funds to cover the full cost of training for 16 to 18-year-olds in the smallest businesses with fewer than 50 employers. Earlier this year, we confirmed that small and medium enterprises (SMEs), who do not pay the apprenticeship levy, would soon be able to access the benefits of using the award-winning apprenticeship service (AS). The AS, already in use by large levy paying employers, will give SMEs greater control over choosing their apprenticeships, a greater range of training providers to engage with, and a new route to access apprenticeship funding. We announced at the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) conference on 29 October 2019 that from January we will begin to transition SMEs onto the service, and will be supporting up to an additional 5,000 starts per month from January to March 2020 for employers that don’t pay the levy. We will be issuing more detail on the transition arrangements from November and throughout 2020. Officials meet regularly with GTA England to discuss training provision, including in respect of apprenticeships. We also work closely with the AELP, the Learning and Work Institute, and the Association of Colleges to consider a range of sectoral issues and to ensure that our apprenticeships reforms continue to work for employers of all sizes, including charities.

Adoption Support Fund

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the report entitled, Investing in families, published by the APPG for Adoption and Permanence, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of enabling Voluntary Adoption Agencies to apply directly to the Adoption Support Fund.

Michelle Donelan: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education announced on 15 October 2019 that the Adoption Support Fund (ASF) would continue until 2021, this announcement can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-government-support-for-adoptive-families. Funding beyond 2021 will be subject to the full Spending Review, planned in 2020. The recommendations from the All-Party Parliamentary Group report, including enabling voluntary adoption agencies to apply directly to the ASF, will be considered as part of this process.

Students: Loans

Mr Philip Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the amount owed is in respect of loans for (a) tuition fees and (b) living costs to date; and what projections his Department has made of the amounts owed in respect of each of those loans in (i) 2025, (ii) 2030, (iii) 2040 and (iv) 2050.

Chris Skidmore: At the end of the 2018-19 financial year, the total outstanding loan balance was £121.8 billion[1]. This figure includes all loan products and covers borrowers who received loans as English domiciled students studying in the UK or as EU domiciled students studying in England. The corresponding forecasts are detailed in table 1 (attached). The information by product (maintenance loans/tuition fee loans) is not readily availableand could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.  [1] Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/student-loans-in-england-2018-to-2019. (Table 1A)  



8237_PDF
(PDF Document, 181.84 KB)

Students: Loans

Mr Philip Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of whether it is possible to replace tuition fees with maintenance grants and be cost-neutral to the public purse; and whether there would need to be a reduction in the number of student places to achieve that change in the current spending round.

Chris Skidmore: Taxpayers subsidise around 50% of the cost of higher education. The cost of the student finance system is a function of 3 main parameters: (i) the number of students supported, (ii) the level of resource per student and (iii) the terms of the funding (for example the balance of loan vs. grant funding) provided to students and institutions. Changing any of these parameters, for example by reintroducing maintenance grants, will require changes either or both of the other 2 if the outcome is to be cost neutral.The Institute for Fiscal Studies has recently published illustrative estimates of the potential cost to HM Treasury of abolishing tuition fees. This can be found here: https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/14369.

Universities: Admissions

Mr Philip Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many more students have attended university since the cap on student numbers was lifted; and what recent assessment his Department has made of whether there has been an increase in the number of students from disadvantaged backgrounds attending university since that cap was lifted.

Chris Skidmore: In 2013, the government announced that the student number controls at publicly funded higher education institutions in England would be removed by 2015/16. This was preceded by a relaxation of student number controls for AAB students, who were made exempt from 2012/13, and ABB students, who were exempt from 2013/14.Student number controls applied to full-time undergraduate students at English higher education institutions who were domiciled in the UK or European Union prior to study.The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes statistics on students enrolled in higher education institutions in England. Time series for UK and EU domiciled full-time undergraduate entrants at higher education institutions in England have been provided in the table. UK and EU domiciled full-time undergraduate entrants English Higher Education InstitutionsAcademic years 2011/12 to 2017/8  Academic year2011/122012/132013/142014/152015/162016/172017/18Total entrants389,575334,820362,910373,950387,610395,485393,675 Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Student Record 2011/12 to 2017/18 Note: (1) Figures in this table are rounded to the nearest multiple of five.(2) Entrants refers to first year students. The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) publish data on the proportion of disadvantaged 18-year-olds from England accepted to full-time higher education. In 2018 there were a record proportion of disadvantaged 18-year-olds from England accepted onto full-time higher education courses.Entry rates for English disadvantaged 18 year olds Application cycle20112012201320142015201620172018Disadvantaged entry rate14.4%14.4%15.6%17.0%18.0%18.9%19.9%20.2%Source: UCAS End of Cycle report 2018  Note: The disadvantage measure refers to POLAR Quintile 1. POLAR is an area-based measure of educational disadvantage.

Church Commissioners

Churches: Theft

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of major property thefts from Churches in the last five years.

Dame Caroline Spelman: The Church Commissioners have indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Marine Protected Areas

Mr Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps she has taken to expand the size of the Blue Belt.

George Eustice: The Government is looking at whether Highly Protected Marine Areas, where all damaging human activities are prohibited, could enhance the blue belt within the Secretary of State Waters. It has commissioned an independent review, led by Richard Benyon MP, to advise whether and how such sites could be introduced. The review will report in early 2020. On 31 May 2019, we announced the designation of the third tranche of 41 Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) in English waters and Northern Ireland offshore waters. Designating these MCZs expanded the UK’s Blue Belt by almost 12,000 km2 and essentially completes our contribution to the international ecologically-coherent network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in terms of habitat and species representation. The UK now has 355 MPAs of different types protecting 25% of UK waters.

Air Pollution: St Helens

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to improve air quality in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens.

Rebecca Pow: Our Clean Air Strategy includes new and ambitious goals, legislation, investment and policies which will help us to clean up our air faster and more effectively. The Environment Bill includes measures to improve air quality including ensuring local authorities have a clear framework, and simple to use powers, to tackle air pollution.Local authorities already have statutory duties to review and assess local air quality, and to declare Air Quality Management Areas and put in place action plans to clean up local air if improvements are necessary. There are a range of tools available to them to support this work.The Borough’s latest assessment of air quality in St Helens is detailed in their Annual Status Report for 2018. This details the measures they have put in place to tackle poor air quality and the progress they are making towards achieving their air quality objectives.

Air Pollution: St Helens

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what targets her Department set for the reduction of air pollution in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens.

Rebecca Pow: We have not set local targets for reducing air pollution. We set concentration limits for a range of pollutants which local authorities are expected to ensure compliance with. Local authorities have statutory duties to review and assess local air quality, declare Air Quality Management Areas and put in place action plans to clean up local air if air quality standards or objectives are not achieved or are not likely to be achieved. Our national Air Quality Strategy sets out the air quality standards and objectives that must be achieved locally. Our landmark Environment Bill ensures that local authorities have a clear framework for tackling air pollution and simple to use powers to address air pollution in their areas.

Chemicals: Registration

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to encourage the sharing of data on chemical safety  jointly owned through consortia to ensure that duplicate tests on animals for the purposes of a UK REACH registration are reduced.

Rebecca Pow: The principle of ‘one substance, one registration’ is a core principle underpinning REACH. The Government has been clear that this principle and therefore the capacity for submission of joint registrations will be retained under UK REACH. This principle will help reduce the amount of testing required to demonstrate safe use and management of a given chemical. We have worked with industry stakeholders one-to-one and in a series of workshops to develop this joint registration process, the supporting IT functionality and published written guidance to support the submission of joint dossiers. The Government is not able to influence the terms under which data currently used for the purposes of EU REACH registrations can be accessed by UK companies in order to support their registrations under UK REACH. Although this is a matter for commercial negotiations, we will continue to work with and encourage industry to facilitate data sharing arrangements. We are currently working with key trade associations to develop data sharing guidance, which can be targeted directly to the trade associations’ members and networks. Together this guidance will be used by industry to develop future data sharing arrangements.

Air Pollution

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps her Department has taken to improve air quality standards.

Rebecca Pow: Our Clean Air Strategy (CAS) sets out an ambitious programme of action to reduce air pollutant emissions from a wide range of sources. The World Health Organization has recognised the CAS as an example for the rest of the world to follow. We have also put in place a £3.5 billion plan to tackle roadside nitrogen dioxide concentrations. Our Environment Bill makes a clear commitment to set a legally binding target to reduce fine particulate matter.

Natural England

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2019 to Question 1654 on Natural England, what estimate she has made of the shortfall in the resources available to Natural England to discharge its statutory functions and duties; for what reason Natural England does not have powers to charge for regulatory works; if she will make it her policy to grant Natural England those powers; and if she will make a statement.

Rebecca Pow: Natural England (NE), like all other Defra sponsored bodies, receives a budget to carry out its duties and responsibilities in line with what is affordable and the Government’s priorities for the natural environment. Grant in Aid has reduced over recent years, however NE receives income from other sources to carry out its duties. The resulting reduction aligns with the Defra Group average of 23% across the same period. NE’s primary power to charge for services and licences is in section 11 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 (‘the Act’). Under section 11(1) of the Act, NE can charge for its services and, for example, uses this power to underpin its chargeable Discretionary Advice Service, through which it is able to offer advice to developers and others in response to non-statutory requests (e.g. pre-application advice). To exercise its powers under section 11(3) of the Act to charge for its service in issuing licences, enabling legislation would need to be in place. Defra is working closely with NE to consider how to broaden its income base. The recent one-year Spending Round for the financial year 2020 to 2021 saw some additional funds allocated for biodiversity. Defra will work with NE to determine future funding necessary from 2020 to deliver NE’s contribution to Government’s ambitions for the environment, including its 25 Year Plan for the Environment.

*No heading*

Mr Damian Hinds: What recent steps she has taken to help ensure business certainty for farmers after the UK leaves the EU.

George Eustice: The Government is taking the necessary steps to ensure the UK leaves the EU with certainty and continuity.As well as a programme of secondary legislation, the Agriculture Bill, announced in the Queen's Speech, provides the foundation for a smooth transition for farmers to a new public money for public goods approach.In the event of a no deal we have contingency arrangements in place allowing us to act swiftly if agricultural sectors are adversely affected.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Erasmus+ Programme

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what recent discussions have taken place on the UK's continuing participation in Erasmus in the event of the UK leaving the EU (a) with and (b) without a deal.

James Duddridge: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 23 October 2019.The correct answer should have been:

The Government values international exchange and collaboration in education and training.Under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement, the UK would continue to take part in current EU programmes, including Erasmus+, for the duration of the transition period. Any participation beyond this would be a matter for upcoming negotiations on our future relationship with the EU. While the regulations for future EU programmes are still in the process of being developed, the Political Declaration envisages the possibility of UK participation in EU programmes like Erasmus+ and the negotiation of general terms of participation.In the event that the UK leaves the EU with no agreement in place, the Government’s guarantee will cover the payment of awards to UK applicants for all successful Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps bids submitted before the end of 2020. Furthermore, the Commission’s Erasmus+ contingency regulation establishes that Key Action 1 mobilities, that are ongoing when the UK withdraws from the EU, do not have to be interrupted, even in a ‘no deal’ scenario. This means UK Erasmus+ students already abroad will be able to complete their study placements.

James Duddridge: The Government values international exchange and collaboration in education and training.Under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement, the UK would continue to take part in current EU programmes, including Erasmus+, for the duration of the transition period. Any participation beyond this would be a matter for upcoming negotiations on our future relationship with the EU. While the regulations for future EU programmes are still in the process of being developed, the Political Declaration envisages the possibility of UK participation in EU programmes like Erasmus+ and the negotiation of general terms of participation.In the event that the UK leaves the EU with no agreement in place, the Government’s guarantee will cover the payment of awards to UK applicants for all successful Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps bids submitted before the end of 2020. Furthermore, the Commission’s Erasmus+ contingency regulation establishes that Key Action 1 mobilities, that are ongoing when the UK withdraws from the EU, do not have to be interrupted, even in a ‘no deal’ scenario. This means UK Erasmus+ students already abroad will be able to complete their study placements.

Customs: Northern Ireland

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, if he will list the international obligations which will require declarations in respect of goods moving from Northern Ireland to GB under the Irish protocol of the Withdrawal Agreement.

James Duddridge: The deal negotiated by the Government with the EU explicitly allows the UK to ensure unfettered market access for goods moving from Northern Ireland to Great Britain. The UK does not therefore intend to carry out checks on such movements of goods.There will be a minimal administrative process which is designed to prevent, for example, trade in endangered species. We will work with the EU to eliminate this limited process as soon as possible after Brexit.These arrangements automatically dissolve after four years unless a majority of the Northern Ireland Assembly in Stormont votes to keep them.

Attorney General

Prison Sentences

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 24 October 2019 to Question 1073 on Prison sentences: Hampshire, whether he plans to extend the scope of the unduly lenient sentence scheme to ensure fewer custodial cases fall outside of its remit.

Michael Ellis: On 29 October 2019 the Government added 14 new offences to the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme. This latest extension to the Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme means that perpetrators of some of the most heinous crimes such as sex offences against children and vulnerable adults and controlling and coercive behaviour could have their sentences increased, bringing some comfort to victims and their families. We will continue to monitor the scheme to consider any further extensions.

Attorney General: International Men's Day

Philip Davies: To ask the Attorney General, what plans his Department has to mark International Men's Day on 19 November 2019.

Michael Ellis: As part of the Diversity and Inclusion programme of work run in the department, the AGO will be hosting an internal bake sale on International Men’s Day 2019. This event will raise awareness both of the contributions men make to society, and the challenges that they face. It will also be an opportunity for the department to raise money in support of Prostate Cancer UK.

GPT Special Project Management

Kevin Hollinrake: To ask the Attorney General, what progress he has made on his plans to take forward a prosecution for bribery and corruption in the case of GPT Special Project Management Ltd.

Mr Geoffrey Cox: This case is being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office which investigates and prosecutes allegations of the most serious or complex fraud, bribery and corruption. These allegations are challenging to investigate. Their investigation is handled with great care and this necessarily takes time. This case is particularly complex and the investigation is still ongoing. For this reason, it would not be appropriate for me to comment on it.

Ministry of Justice

Judiciary

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many days (a) recorders and (b) judges have sat in total in England in each of the last 10 years.

Chris Philp: The official statistics for judge sitting days (tables 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3 of the Civil Justice Statistics Quarterly, January to March 2019) were withdrawn on 5 September 2019, due to data discrepancies that were discovered after publication on 6 June 2019 and deemed potentially misleading to users. These discrepancies remain under investigation and, in line with the Code of Practice on Statistics, the Chief Statistician and Head of Profession decided to withdraw these tables until the investigations were complete as is normal practice. The revised figures will be published in due course, and will provide the total sitting days in Family, Civil and Crown courts.

Prison Sentences

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2019 to Question 955 on Prison Sentences, what proportion of all standard determinate custodial sentences handed down to (a) men and (b) women were served in prison.

Chris Philp: Sentencing is a matter for the independent judiciary, which takes the full facts of each case into account. In 2018, the mean average proportion of the sentence served in prison by males released from determinate sentences (excluding extended determinate sentences) was 64%, the median proportion was 56%. For females the mean average was 49% and the median was 45%. The overwhelming majority of the releases covered by this data will be from standard determinate sentences but the way the data is recorded does not allow us readily to exclude releases from other types of determinate sentence, such as Detention and Training Orders and sentences for offenders of particular concern imposed under s.236A of the Criminal Justice Act 2003.

Prisoners: Parents

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2019 to Question 949 on Prisoners: Parents, for what reasons his Department does not collect data to illuminate the prevalence and needs of male prisoners with children; and if he will make a statement.

Lucy Frazer: We do recognise the needs of male prisoners with children, dependent or otherwise, as well as those of women. Information in this regard is vital in informing policy and practice in this area. Where male or female offenders choose to disclose such information, data is collected, although it is not corroborated. As noted in our previous answer this data does not provide detailed information of the child’s age or whether they are dependents. The data is therefore not suitable for publication.

Courts: Interpreters

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases in the (a) family, (b) criminal and (c) civil courts have required a translator or interpreter in each of the last ten years; and what the average length of time for cases in the (i) family, (ii) criminal and (iii) civil courts requiring translation or interpretation services was in each of the last ten years.

Chris Philp: (a)(b)(c) Data is published concerning the ‘number and rate of completed language interpreter and translation services requests in the United Kingdom’. The latest published figures cover the period to June 2019 and are available back to 2013, when the initial contracts were put in place. This data is published in Criminal Court Statistics overview table L1.https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-court-statistics Our most recent statistics show the total number of language service requests are at their highest level since the new contract was introduced in 2016 and the vast majority of these – 97% - were fulfilled. (i)(ii)(iii) The Ministry of Justice does not centrally collate the data requested and it is not possible to separately identify cases requiring translation from overall case counts or from data used to calculate timeliness estimates. This information may be held on court records, however, obtaining it would be of disproportionate costs.

Prisoners' Transfers

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison-to-prison transfers have been completed in each of the last five years by (a) the Police, (b) the Prison Service and (c) private contractors.

Lucy Frazer: Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) use private contractors to transfer prisoners across the prison estate. A breakdown of the numbers of transfers that took place in the last five years is set out in the table below. Prison-to-prison transfers by private contractors between 2014 – September 2019. YearPrison-to-prison transfers by private contractors201470,625201569,190201669,556201765,351201862,9712019 (January – September)48,152 The police do not conduct prison-to-prison transfers. Information on transfers conducted by HMPPS is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Private providers continue to play an important role in the prison estate. Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service will continue to closely monitor the performance of all providers and we will not hesitate to take action where standards fall short.

Offenders: Rehabilitation

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department's strategy entitled, Transforming Rehabilitation, what key success indicators his Department plans to include in its programmes to reduce reoffending.

Lucy Frazer: Performance indicators will give providers the incentives to ensure quality delivery which secures rehabilitative outcomes whilst delivering the sentence of the court and protecting the public. There will be performance indicators to assess whether accredited programmes and other interventions have been delivered to service users referred to them by offender managers. There will also be quality indicators on whether accredited programmes and other interventions are of sufficient quality to enable individuals to complete the intervention and address problems related to their offending.

Offenders: Rehabilitation

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department plans to include targeted programmes for offenders that are dependent on (a) drugs, (b) alcohol and (c) gambling as a commissioning requirement under the proposed new probation system.

Lucy Frazer: The Probation Reform Programme seeks to support the protocol agreed between the Ministry of Justice, Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England and Public Health England to promote the use of Mental Health Treatment, Alcohol Treatment and Drug Rehabilitation requirements as the intervention of choice for eligible offenders. We also intend to procure additional rehabilitative interventions that support offenders on release from custody and under community supervision to access treatment and stay safe while awaiting treatment and/or access to specialist services which address both substance misuse and gambling.

Offenders: Rehabilitation

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish the criteria used by Her Majesty's Prisons and Probation Service expert panel to assess accredited rehabilitation programmes.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of HMPPS accredited programmes have had impact evaluations.

Lucy Frazer: The criteria used by the Correctional Services Accreditation and Advice Panel (CSAAP) to accredit programmes for Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) are being updated and prepared for publication. There are 18 HMPPS accredited programmes, of which:Two programmes have published impact studies which set out the programme’s impact on proven reoffending.A further four programmes have published short-term outcomes studies which assess the programme’s effect on variables that are expected to change (such as treatment targets like problem solving) to then assess impact (reduced likelihood of reconviction).In addition, seven programmes have not been in operation long enough to generate sufficient data for a reoffending impact analysis, and three have small or specialist samples that make constructing a suitable comparison group for a robust evaluation challenging at this time.Impact studies to assess reoffending are currently being scoped or are underway for four HMPPS programmes. Short-term outcome studies are underway for two other programmes. While several evaluations have been published for accredited offending behaviour programmes, are being scoped, or are underway, not all courses have had an impact evaluation. There are several reasons for this:Some are relatively new and insufficient time has passed to observe outcomes – especially for programmes that target individuals likely to be on long sentences. It can take many years (sometimes upwards of eight years) to generate the data needed to evaluate proven reoffending.Some programmes are delivered to a low volume of participants or are targeted at specific cohorts, which makes it difficult to construct a suitable comparison group for a robust impact evaluation to assess reoffending.The Department has delivered other types of evaluations such as process studies or short-term outcome studies (for example, effects on institutional behaviour) to assess the implementation and delivery of the programmes. This is particularly valuable for new programmes, where we want to learn about how they are being received (as per Cabinet Office guidance on evaluation).

Ministry of Justice: International Men's Day

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans his Department has to mark International Men's Day on 19 November 2019.

Chris Philp: No one should suffer unfair treatment because of their gender. Every year International Men’s Day offers an opportunity to highlight how outcomes for men and boys can be improved and to talk about some of the important work going on every day across Government to do this. We have a range of activity planned to mark International Men’s Day, either on the day itself or in advance, including:a men’s health and wellbeing event in Leeds being run by our departmental Mental Health Allies;working with our Corporate Communications and Diversity, Inclusion and Wellbeing teams and our network of Health and Wellbeing Champions to raise awareness amongst our male employees of the range of departmental support and wellbeing programmes available;activity being led by our departmental Gender Equality Network includes an International Men’s Day quiz, a shared event with the Government Legal Department, and a breakfast session for dads and dads-to-be; anda dedicated International Men’s Day blog from a male member of staff to feature on our employee intranet.

Prisons: Crimes of Violence

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) assaults and (b) serious assaults against other prisoners and (i) assaults and (ii) serious assaults against staff there were at (A) HMP Dartmoor, (B) HMP Dartmoor comparator prisons, (C) all category C prisons and (D) all prisons per 1,000 prisoners in each of the last five years.

Lucy Frazer: The attached table shows all the data requested. The Government is taking unprecedented action to improve safety in prisons. We have recruited over 4,700 more prison officers since October 2016 and we now have the greatest number in post since early 2012. The Challenge, Support and Intervention Plan case management process for prisoners at risk of violence has been mandated for all prisons to help staff to manage violent prisoners and those identified as posing a raised risk of being violent. We have announced an extra £100 million for security, on top of £70 million we were already spending to make prisons safer, more secure and decent. This is part of the Government’s new £2.75bn investment to modernise and maintain our prisons, create 10,000 additional places, and step up security to stop the flow of drugs and mobile phones. We are equipping officers with PAVA incapacitant spray and body-worn cameras to help prevent serious harm to staff and prisoners when dealing with violent incidents. We are improving perimeter security and introducing new x-ray scanners, drug detection dogs and dedicated search teams, to address the supply of drugs that we know are fuelling much of the violence in custody.



Table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 21.83 KB)

Prison Officers: Length of Service

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of band 3 to 5 prison officers have experience of less than (a) six months, (b) one year, (c) three years and (d) five years at (i) HMP Dartmoor, (ii) HMP Dartmoor comparator prisons, (iii) all category C prisons and (iv) all prisons.

Lucy Frazer: The number and proportion of band 3-5 prison officers by length of service as at 30th June 2019 for HMP Dartmoor, HMPS Dartmoor comparator prisons, category C prisons and all prisons, is provided in table 1 below. The huge number of officers we’ve recently recruited inevitably means there are more staff – and more leavers - with under one year’s experience. But we are working hard to retain staff, including by giving them the biggest pay award in a decade last year. Table 1: Number (full time equivalent) and proportion of band 3-5 officers1 in post, by length of service2 in HMP Dartmoor, HMP Dartmoor comparator prisons3, all male category C prisons, all public sector prisons4, as at 30 June 2019Full time equivalentLength of service2HMP DartmoorHMP Dartmoor comparator prisons3Male Category C prisonsAll Public Sector prisons4Number%Number %Number%Number%Less than 6 months42.8%363.6%3805.9%1,2745.8%0 to 1 year117.6%11711.8%97215.2%3,40715.5%0 to 3 years4833.2%34234.3%2,82344.1%9,34342.5%0 to 5 years6746.0%40440.6%3,41753.4%11,37351.7%Notes:1. Band 3-5 Officers includes Band 3-4 / Prison Officers (incl. specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officers, and Band 5 / Custodial Managers.2. The length of service is calculated from the most recent hire date.3. Comparator prisons include Usk/Prescoed, Bure, Stafford, Channings Wood, Huntercombe, Warren Hill, Maidstone. Ashfield is not included in these figures as it is a private prison.4. Includes staff who were employed in HM prisons only and does not include those based in HMPPS HQ, such as officers who are on detached duty with no fixed location, POELT trainers, or staff redeploying from closing establishments who are allocated to an area office in the HR database before being reallocated to a prison in the database.

Prisons: Closures

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister of State for Prisons and Probation at the Justice Select Committee on 22 October 2019, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policy to maintain Victorian prisons of the closure of HMP Dartmoor.

Lucy Frazer: The planned closure of HMP Dartmoor in 2023 was announced in 2013. This remains our plan. We continue to discuss with the Duchy of Cornwall whether there is a viable role for Dartmoor in our prison estate plans, which we keep under constant review. We have received £156m additional funding for next year to undertake essential maintenance across the whole prison estate, to ensure we have the prison places we need to manage incoming demand.

Personal Independence Payment: Appeals

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the current listing time is for appeal hearings for personal independent payment from the date received to hearing date in (a) Brighton and Hove and (b) the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Philp: This information is not held centrally. HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) statistics are not calculated from receipt of the appeal to the hearing, but from receipt of the appeal to the disposal of the case. An appeal is not necessarily disposed of at its first hearing. The final disposal decision on the appeal may be reached after an earlier hearing had been adjourned (which may be directed by the judge for a variety of reasons such as to seek further evidence), or after an earlier hearing date had been postponed (again, for a variety of reasons, often at the request of the appellant). An appeal may also have been decided at an earlier date by the First-tier Tribunal, only for the case to have gone on to the Upper Tribunal, to be returned once again to the First-tier, for its final disposal. Waiting times for appeals against decisions made about Personal Independence Payment are published at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics. It is important that appeals are heard as quickly as possible. HMCTS recognises there are delays in the system and it is in the process of recruiting more judicial office holders in order to increase capacity and help to reduce waiting times for appellants. This includes 250 judges across the First-tier Tribunal, 125 disability qualified members and up to 230 medical members. In addition, HMCTS has recently launched a new digital service with a view to enabling speedier processing of appeals. Information on the new digital service can be found at: www.gov.uk/appeal-benefit-decision/submit-appeal.

Reoffenders

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2019 to Question 944 on Reoffenders, how many offenders in each category lived in (a) Wales and (b) England.

Lucy Frazer: The table below shows the number of Serious Further Offence (SFO) notifications – that is, cases of an offender under probation supervision charged with an SFO - received between 1 January 2014 and 31 December 2018, by SFO offence, where the offender was supervised by a probation provider in a) Wales and b) England. This data show the area which was supervising the offender. Some offenders may have moved from Wales to England or England to Wales before the SFO they were charged with committing. Not all charges for an SFO will result in a conviction. In any year, in about 50% of cases either the charges are dropped before trial, or the offender is acquitted following trial or the offender is convicted of a less serious offence. 20142015201620172018SFO OffenceEWEWEWEWEWArson with intent to endanger life141141133173180Assault by penetration222282332352141Attempt or conspiracy to commit murder442504546814745Aggravated Burglary222202338507341Causing death by dangerous/careless driving/aggravated vehicle taking5070111100151False imprisonment110100250263125Firearms offences including possession with intent190171111160170Kidnapping230150122220262Manslaughter7150130142130Murder67463682410951266Offences under the Explosive Substances Act0000604020Other qualifying sexual offences251360215344183Other serious violent offence1010003030Other specified offence causing death1020000000Rape161112125235102291311614Robbery with firearm8013071150130Under 13 sexual offences including rape261322232284230Total4562552523579456934752438*CRCs were created as part of Transforming Rehabilitation (TR) in June 2014. Therefore data provided for 2014 include cases managed by former Probation Trusts prior to TR.The NPS and CRCs are required to complete automatic reviews on any eligible offender who has been charged with (including attempted or conspiracy to commit offences): murder manslaughter, other specified offences causing death, rape or assault by penetration, or a sexual offence against a child under 13 years of age.Conditional reviews are completed when an offender has been assessed as high risk of harm during the current sentence (NPS only) or where no risk assessment has been completed.Not all SFO notifications result in the completion of a reviews as charges can be reduced or dropped. Not every offender charged with a SFO is convicted.The data represents SFO charges and not a unique count of offenders.Data Sources and Quality. We have drawn these figures from administrative IT systems which, as with some large-scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Probation: Training

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what training will be offered to probation officers employed by community rehabilitation companies in Wales when they transfer to the National Probation Service; and if he will make a statement.

Lucy Frazer: The National Probation Service (NPS) in Wales, has developed a detailed training plan for Wales Community Rehabilitation Service (CRC) staff joining the organisation. This intensive training plan has been designed to update staff who may not have worked with high risk of harm or people who sexually offend or have not worked with these cohorts of offenders for some time. All Wales CRC staff will receive relevant training pertaining to their grade and will be allocated new cases after undertaking the necessary mandatory training.

Probation: Wales

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department’s press release of 16 May 2019 entitled Justice Secretary announces new model for probation, how much of the up to £280 million a year for probation interventions from the private and voluntary sectors will be spent in Wales.

Lucy Frazer: We will release the information on the value of contracted provision in Wales when we publish OJEU notices for the forthcoming competitions for future probation providers. Our reforms will harness the innovation of private and voluntary providers while drawing on the expertise of the National Probation Service to strengthen rehabilitation and protect the public.

Probation: Costs

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department’s press release of 16 May 2019 entitled Justice Secretary announces new model for probation, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of bringing all offender management in (a) Wales and (b) England under the National Probation Service.

Lucy Frazer: We have produced an initial assessment of the cost of implementing the new model for probation. These costs include exit costs for current Community Rehabilitation Company contracts which will be subject to negotiation with providers. Releasing these figures may compromise those negotiations and so we cannot do so at this time.

Courts: Disability

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of the number of courts in England and Wales that were inaccessible to people with disabilities in each day of 2019.

Chris Philp: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. We can provide an indication of the number of inaccessible courts during 2019 based on sites which have long-term access limitations due to a range of factors such as the building’s age, internal configuration or listed status. Our estimate is that of around 335 operational court and tribunal buildings, 26 were inaccessible to members of the general public with disabilities. We consider buildings to be inaccessible if they do not provide disabled users with both physical access to the court and the ability to access appropriate services in the building, for example disabled toilet facilities. HMCTS has a reasonable adjustments policy in place to accommodate those with particular access requirements. The modernisation and investment taking place across the justice system should mean that fewer people will need to attend court, as we make use of technology such as video-conferencing and online services. These provisions will reduce the need for people to attend a physical court building.

Administration of Justice

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many adjournments have taken place in each month in 2019 in the (a) criminal, (b) civil and (c) family courts.

Chris Philp: The information sought in respect (a) criminal and (b) civil courts is provided in the table below. The equivalent information for (c), the family courts, could only be provided at disproportionate cost. Cases Adjourned January to June 19 MagistratesCrownCivilJan-1953,67113,5292,843Feb-1946,38912,4722,521Mar-1948,88113,3832,586Apr-1948,84413,2042,706May-1951,14313,9672,868Jun-1947,81312,5452,628 NotesData are: (i) taken from a live management information system and can change over time; (ii) management information and are not subject to the same level of checks as official statistics; and (iii) the most recent available and, therefore, might differ slightly from any previously published information.Data are provided to June 2019, the most recent period for which official statistics have been published.

Courts: Attendance

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) failure to appear warrants have been issued and (b) times the police have had to collect defendants to ensure that they attended trial in each of the last 24 months.

Chris Philp: Data on the number of warrants for the arrest of defendants who have failed to attend in criminal proceedings is not currently available in published statistics. The Ministry of Justice and HMCTS has developed a consistent statistical measure for warrants for arrest for failing to attend court, and will publish a quarterly time series in the next edition of in the Criminal Court Statistics Quarterly on 12 December 2019, as announced in the most recent edition on 26th September. Information on action taken by the police, including the execution of arrest warrants, to secure attendance of defendants at their trial, is not held centrally.

Prosecutions

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases that collapsed on the day of the trial there were (a) in each month in 2019 and (b) in 2018 and (c) in 2010.

Chris Philp: The information requested about how many cracked cases there have been (a) in each month in 2019 and (b) in 2018 and (c) in 2010: Please find attached tables providing:- Number of cracked trials at the magistrates’ court and Crown Court in England and Wales in each month for the years 2010, 2018 and 2019 Table 1: Number of cracked trials in criminal courts, by court type and months – 2010, 2018 and 2019 YearMonthMagistrates' courtCrown Court2010January5,8201,520 February5,5321,496 March6,3711,687 April5,7201,421 May5,4011,459 June6,1221,642 July6,0051,569 August5,7401,595 September6,2021,694 October6,0431,493 November5,9651,722 December4,5251,0912018January4,4291,164 February3,800951 March3,897811 April4,050903 May4,056890 June4,282815 July4,162923 August3,886879 September3,901751 October4,329922 November4,019816 December2,7755302019January4,241890 February3,632711 March3,829717 April3,558702 May3,434668 June3,367696Notes:   1) The total number of cracked trials listed during the reporting period indicated.2) Cracked trial is a trial that does not go ahead on the day as an outcome is reached and so does not need to be re-scheduled. This occurs when an acceptable plea is offered by the defendant or the prosecution offers no evidence against the defendant.3) Due to changes in data processing and timing of data extraction, figures for 2010 data may differ slightly from published information - the difference is small and relates to only one or two cases.   4) Latest published data available to June 2019.  Source: Criminal Court Statistics (PQ 7113)  For more detailed data on trials in the courts for England and Wales, the Ministry of Justice does publish annual data on trials in the magistrates’ courts for England and Wales, including numbers of effective trials and the key reasons for cracked trials and ineffective trials. This is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-court-statistics-annual-january-to-march-2018

HM Courts and Tribunals Service: Staff

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many staff HM Courts and Tribunals Service employed (a) centrally and (b) through agencies in (i) 2010, (ii) 2014 and (iii) 2018; and how many they estimate will be employed in each of those categories in 2022.

Chris Philp: Please find below HMCTS permanent and agency staff numbers for 2014 and 2018. Staff numbers were not available in 2010 as HMCTS was created on the 1st April 2011 by the merger of Her Majesty’s Courts Service and the Tribunals Service.  HMCTS StaffAgency StaffTotal31-Mar-141911410562017031-Mar-1816023273718760  From a forecasting perspective, agency staff (as of 31 Aug 2019) currently represent 13.82% of our overall Full Time Equivalent (FTE) workforce. By the end of the financial year (FY) 2021/22 we are forecasting that our overall FTE will be c13,000 FTE based on a Programme Business Case (05) figures; therefore, if our agency % remains the same then this would equate to c1,800 agency staff. However, we do anticipate reducing our agency rates over the coming years so this % is likely to be lower by the end of FY 2021/22.

Prisoners' Release and Reoffenders

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were released from prison on each day from 17 December 2018 to 31 December 2018; and how many of those people were recalled to prison within one month of release.

Lucy Frazer: A total of 2,853 prisoners were released from prison between 17 December 2018 and 31 December 2018 inclusive. Of these, 325 individuals had a licence recall within one month (31 days) of release although not all would have been apprehended by the Police and returned to prison custody within that timeframe. Public protection is our priority. Offenders on licence are subject to strict licence conditions and supervision and are liable to be recalled to custody where they breach their licence conditions. The figures detailed in the answer have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Prisoners' Release

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people are due for release from prison on each day from 20 December 2019 to 3 January 2020.

Lucy Frazer: The release data for December 2019 is planned for publication in April 2020. The publication in July 2020 will include the data for January 2020. It is not possible to state the number of future releases by date because of the many factors affecting release date that can take place following sentence, such as added days awarded on prison disciplinary hearings, time spent unlawfully at large after escapes/absconds, appeals against the sentence, and further sentences imposed concurrently or consecutively.

Young Offender Institutions: Libraries

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the annual budget was for library services for (a) HM Young Offender Institution Cookham Wood, (b) HM Young Offender Institution Feltham A, (c) HM Young Offender Institution Wetherby, (d) HM Young Offender Institution Parc, (e) HM Young Offender Institution Werrington, (f) Medway Secure Training Centre, (g) Oakhill Secure Training Centre and (h) Rainsbrook Secure Training Centre in each year since 2010.

Wendy Morton: The Youth Custody Service has commenced reform of education services and are developing a vision for learning. Included in the education reform is the provision of wellbeing and exercise with flexibility of provisions. The vision for learning is expected to bring about flexibility which is tailored to the needs of children within the secure estate and we are working with our educationproviders to increase the flexibility of the core day and curriculum to allow for more space, time and resources to provide young people with the activities that are tailored to their needs and offer the most positive engagement with education. We have also devolved additional funds to Young Offender Institutions (YOIs) governors to commission additional educational, vocational and enrichment activities that best engage and meet the needs of the children in their establishments. This amounts to £0.3m in 18/19 and £1.8m in 19/20 across the four public sector sites. Where available the information requested on the allocations to the requested establishments for prison libraries are provided in the attached table. Prior to 2014 all library finances were carried out locally in establishments, and are therefore not included. Data for establishments which were or are Privately Managed Prisons are not available as the cost of provision is included in the overall budget. It should also be noted that at HMYOI Feltham the library is shared across both sites and the figures provided are for full provision. Budgets for 19/20 have yet to be officially allocated.



Table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 13.95 KB)

Ministry of Justice: Digital Technology

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, who is responsible for digitisation in his Department; and what mechanisms the person with responsibility for digitisation uses to champion digitisation.

Chris Philp: Responsibility for digital and technology within the department is held by the Chief Digital and Information Officer (CDIO) who acts as functional lead for Digital, Data and Technology profession. Updates on digital and technology are provided on a semi-regular basis to the department’s Executive Committee. The CDIO regularly attends boards and committee meetings across department agencies, and meets with Chief Executives to ensure that digital and technology needs are met. Due to its unique constitutional position. HM Courts and Tribunal Service has its own DDAT function.

Criminal Proceedings

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average number of adjournments is per case in all cases heard in the criminal courts in each year since 2010.

Chris Philp: The information requested about the average number of adjournments per case in all cases heard in the criminal courts each year since 2010 could only be provided at disproportionate cost

Courts

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) magistrates, (b) crown and (c) family courts which are scheduled to be sold are (i) still hearing cases and (ii) shut but yet to be sold.

Chris Philp: The number of criminal or family courts that are currently operational and are scheduled to be disposed are as follows; Magistrates’ courtsCrown courtsFamily courts111 The number of criminal or family courts that are closed but are not yet disposed are as follows; Magistrates’ courtsCrown courtsFamily courtsCrown and county courts (combined courts)Magistrates’ and family courts (combined Courts)70313 The decision to close any court is not taken lightly – it only happens following full public consultation and only when effective access to justice can be maintained. Courts that have closed were either underused, dilapidated or too close to one another.Since 2015/16 HMCTS has raised approximately £129m from the sale of surplus buildings to reinvest in the wider reform programme.

Prisons: Repairs and Maintenance

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the most recent estimate is of the cost of outstanding repairs at each prison.

Lucy Frazer: This Government is investing an additional £156million in 2020/21 to improve the conditions of existing prisons across the estate – targeting the most pressing maintenance concerns including boilers, fire safety and serveries. This underpins our commitment to a system that is decent, safe and secure. Currently the priority maintenance backlog totals approximately £900m. This is most up to date estimate we have of the costs associated with the maintenance backlog, inclusive of resource costs. A figure for each individual establishment is not available and would represent disproportionate cost to obtain.

Reoffenders

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2019 to Question 944 on Reoffenders, how many offenders under statutory supervision have been convicted under each category of serious offence in each of the last five years.

Lucy Frazer: We have interpreted the request to mean the number of offenders convicted of a Serious Further Offence (SFO) broken down by conviction offence type. The information you ask for is routinely published and therefore available in the public domain, and I have provided the link below.https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/serious-further-offences. We will publish SFO conviction data for 2018/19 next year. Not all charges for an SFO will result in a conviction. In any year, in about 50% of cases either the charges are dropped before trial, or the offender is acquitted following trial or the offender is convicted of a less serious offence.

Community Orders

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many hours of unpaid work have been handed down by the courts as part of community orders in each year since 2010.

Chris Philp: This information is not readily available and would require a manual search of court records which would incur disproportionate costs.The number of community sentences issued can be found in our outcomes by offence tool:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/802314/outcomes-by-offence-tool-2018.xlsx

Ministry of Justice: Staff

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many full-time equivalent National Compliance and Enforcement Service staff have been employed in each year since 2010.

Chris Philp: The number of full time equivalent staff (FTE) working in the National Compliance and Enforcement Service at the end of March for each year since 2012 is as follows:2012 1,7062013 1,7702014 1,6402015 1,5162016 1,4702017 1,4972018 1,5732019 1,425 FTE figure include both agency and permanent staff. We do not hold any figures prior to March 2012 as headcount was historically included within Court FTE figures.

Courts: Video Conferencing

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many hearings and trials across the HM Courts and Tribunal Service estate used a video link or similar technology in each of the last five years.

Chris Philp: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Ministry of Justice: Contracts

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department spent on third-party contractors in (a) 2010, (b) 2014, (c) 2018 and (d) 2019.

Chris Philp: The information requested is provided in the below table. The spend provided is for the requested calendar years, not financial years. The spend for 2019 covers January to September. The question has been interpreted to refer to the Ministry of Justice’s spend with suppliers we have contracted goods or services for the requester period. Private providers play an important role in the Ministry of Justice. We continue to closely monitor the performance of all providers and we will not hesitate to take action where standards fall short. Calendar Year2010201420182019Spend for Year£2,679,422,903.60£3,113,267,154.29£3,994,928,310.79£2,972,954,526.18 Spend figures do not include MoJ Spend with the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) for council and solicitor spend as these are not considered contracted services.

Cabinet Office

Mortality Rates

Mr Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which region in the UK had the highest rate of preventable mortality in the last year for which figures are available.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.



UKSA Response
(PDF Document, 81.09 KB)

Cabinet Office: International Men's Day

Philip Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans his Department has to mark International Men's Day on 19 November 2019.

Oliver Dowden: No one should suffer unfair treatment because of their gender. Every year International Men’s Day offers an opportunity to highlight how outcomes for men and boys can be improved and to talk about some of the important work going on every day across Government to do this.The work ranges from the introduction of shared parental leave, which allows men to take time away from the workplace and bond with their new children, benefitting that crucial long-term relationship for both parent and child, to our programme tackling LGBT bullying in schools which seeks to protect those who may be victimised by outdated and stereotypical ideas of what it means to be a ‘real man’.Government is also working with local authorities to ensure their suicide prevention plans support more men, and in the Domestic Abuse Bill we propose to create a statutory definition of domestic abuse that makes clear men also can be victims of this abhorrent crime.

Elections: Social Media

Amber Rudd: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans the Government has to implement the recommendations of the Electoral Commission's 2018 report, entitled Digital campaigning: increasing transparency for voters, on the transparency of (a) political online advertising, (b) costs from political parties and (c) sources of campaign funding.

Chloe Smith: Our current election process is robust and the Government is committed to increasing transparency in digital campaigning to maintain a fair and proportionate democratic process. The Cabinet Office has announced a range of measures to better safeguard UK elections against any potential intimidation, malign influence, interference and disinformation.This included commitments to launch a consultation on electoral integrity and implement a digital imprints regime for online election material.The consultation may consider recommendations for further increasing transparency on digital political advertising; closing potential loopholes on foreign spending in elections; and preventing shell companies from sidestepping the current rules on political finance.

General Elections: Weather

Jon Trickett: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has modelled the effect of winter weather on predicted General Election turnout.

Chloe Smith: Whilst there is a common perception that bad weather affects voter turnout, researchers from the Universities of Oxford and Strathclyde say that there is no evidence from the UK to suggest that bad weather stops people from voting.Cabinet Office works with Returning Officers, the Electoral Commission, the Civil Contingencies Secretariat and other organisations to mitigate risks to the effective administration of the election.

Government Departments: Temporary Employment

Jon Trickett: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2019 to Question 3548 on Cabinet Office: Temporary Employment, how many of those staff in each category worked in each Government Department.

Simon Hart: The requested information below is for Central Government departments only, which are the majority of customers for the Public Sector Resourcing framework.Contracting Authority£200 or less£201 to £500£501 to £1000£1001 to £2000more than £2000Grand TotalAttorney General's Office354160800522Cabinet Office157254285131710Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy3272379611662Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport53243940120Department for Education1321736710373Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs285711899823084Department for Health and Social Care (including NHS England)730154130001014Department for Transport36611210830589Department for Work and Pensions (including BDPTS)7490625701129HMRC861128124701120HOME OFFICE1122245291201660Ministry of Defence20347322080904Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government32464610125Ministry of Justice3059527355103942Grand Total102603141249356415954Please note that the grand total of workers placed has increased since the previous question. This is predominantly due to the integration of different systems not being complete since question 888 was asked.Other bodies (e.g. Devolved Administrations, Arms Length Bodies, Police, Health) are eligible to use this framework agreement but this information is not included in the above response. Neither the Department for International Trade or the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have used this framework agreement at the time this question was asked. The Department for Exiting the European Union are not eligible to use this framework agreement.

Weather: Death

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the (a) number of excess winter deaths in each (i) nation and (ii) region of the UK and (b) proportion of those excess winter deaths that have been directly attributed to fuel poverty in each of the last 10 years.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.



UKSA Response
(PDF Document, 147.22 KB)

Honours: Social Status

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Answer of 9 September 2019 to Question 286332 on Honours: Gender and Ethnic Group, whether he is taking steps to monitor the (a) socio-economic class, (b) occupational background and (c) regional background of honours recipients; and if he will make a statement.

Oliver Dowden: The Government is committed to ensuring that the honours system is fully representative of UK society. We plan to collect the socio-economic background of honours recipients for the first time in the forthcoming New Year’s Honours List 2020, and we plan to publish the data in due course.We plan to record the region recipients are from. This is so we can assess whether any part of the UK is under-represented and target outreach activities appropriately. We also plan to collect data on gender, ethnicity, disability and sexual orientation. There are no plans to formally capture the occupational background of honours recipients.

Proof of Identity

Afzal Khan: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of people who do not have access to any form of photo ID; and how many of those people are (a) aged between 18 and 25, (b) aged over 65 and (c) BAME voters.

Chloe Smith: The Electoral Commission’s independent statutory evaluation of the 2019 voter ID pilots, found that in elections where photo ID was required, 99.6% of electors coming to polling stations were able to show the right photographic ID and cast their vote.Locally issued ID was made available by local authorities, free of charge, whenever an elector was unable to produce the required ID. This will also be the case when voter ID is rolled out nationally. In the 2019 photographic ID pilots, of the 34,800 people that voted, only 100 people needed to rely on a Local Elector ID issued by their local authority - 63 voters in Pendle and 27 voters in Woking.Cabinet Office does not collect or hold data on the total number of people who do not have access to any form of photographic ID. However, based on the Cabinet Office evaluation of the pilots, there is no indication that any consistent demographic was adversely affected by the voter ID models.Showing ID is something people of all backgrounds already do every day, for example to take out a library book, claim benefits or pick up a parcel from the post office. Proving who you are before you make a decision of huge importance at the ballot box should be no different. As was the case during the pilots, any voter who does not have an approved form of ID will be able to apply, free of charge, for a local electoral ID from their local authority.

Government Departments: Equal Pay

Mary Glindon: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether each Department has set a target for the elimination of the gender pay gap in their workforce; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Hart: In 2017, the Government introduced world-leading legislation that made it statutory for organisations with 250 or more employees to report annually on their gender pay gap. Government departments are covered by the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017 which came into force on 31 March 2017. These regulations underpin the Public Sector Equality Duty and require the relevant organisations to publish their gender pay gap data by 30 March annually.Each year, in addition to reporting the figures required by the legislation each department publishes a stand alone report outlining the reasons that contribute to their gender pay gap and the action plans aimed at reducing it. At present there is no set date by which gender pay gaps will be eliminated and it is acknowledged that it will take many years.Individual departmental gender pay gap reports are available on gov.uk.

Cabinet Office: Digital Technology

Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, who is responsible for digitisation in his Department; and what mechanisms the person with responsibility for digitisation uses to champion digitisation.

Simon Hart: The Government Digital Service leads the Government’s Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) function, helping departments build and run services that are digital by default and focused on the needs of citizens.GDS does this in a number of ways. It works with departments to set the government's strategy for digital transformation, including the Government Transformation Strategy. It runs the GDS Academy, which has upskilled over 10,000 civil servants in the skills that are essential to building public services in the 21st century, and deploys specialist DDaT teams across government to accelerate the delivery of priority projects. GDS establishes, and assures projects against, clear best practice standards to help departments deliver world-class digital services that are designed around user needs. It also helps departments to build these services by providing advice and developing solutions to common problems and making them available for reuse across government’s digital estate; removing duplication and freeing up resources for departments to focus on solving the hard problems that are unique to them.Within government we have a strong focus on the concept of “digital maturity” which encapsulates not only delivery of excellent digital services, but improving government’s processes, tools, and infrastructure, developing digital, data and technology (DDaT) capability, and upskilling decision makers to ensure we build on these foundations to deliver digital transformation at scale.

General Elections: Learning Disability

Sir Michael Fallon: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) party manifestos, (b) voter registration information and (c) polling booths are made accessible to people with learning disabilities during the parliamentary general election.

Chloe Smith: The Government, through the Cabinet Office chaired Accessibility of Elections Working Group, has taken a number of steps to remove barriers that people with a learning disability face in registering to vote and voting at elections. These include:(a) Facilitating direct engagement between the Royal Mencap Society and political parties through the Westminster Parliamentary Parties Panel on the benefits and timings of producing Easy Read versions of party manifestos, to assist people with a learning disability to make an informed decision when voting at elections.(b) Introducing on the Register to Vote homepage an ‘Easy Read’ guide produced in partnership with the Royal Mencap Society, to enable people with learning difficulties to apply online without difficulty.(c) Improving training materials for polling station staff, including the Electoral Commission and the Royal Mencap Society producing videos setting out the voting experience of people with a learning disability at the polling station. A disabled voter can be assisted to vote in the polling booth to mark their ballot paper by the presiding officer or their companion.

Housing: Prices

Paul Scully: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the average house price is in each parliamentary constituency in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.



UKSA Response
(PDF Document, 61.34 KB)

Electoral Register: Homelessness

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to support people who are (a) homeless and (b) without a fixed address to register to vote in the 2019 General Election; and what resources his Department is allocating for that purpose.

Chloe Smith: Over the last year, the Cabinet Office has, with the support of Ministers, convened partners from local authorities and homeless charities to codesign and test ideas to address barriers to electoral registration among the homeless community. It has published a collection of research and findings titled ‘Barriers to Registration: Homeless Citizens and Frequent Movers’ on GOV.UK to improve understanding of these issues.Last month, National Democracy Week saw local authorities and civil society groups deliver democratic engagement activities and has acted as a catalyst for the creation of a number of valuable resources on GOV.UK and continue to be used by our partners.

Absent Voting: British Nationals Abroad

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment the Cabinet Office has made of the effect of the snap parliamentary general election on the ability of UK nationals living overseas who have postal votes to vote in that election.

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has plans to bring forward legislative proposals to enable British citizens living overseas who have postal votes to (a) receive postal vote packs by email and (b) vote online.

Chloe Smith: The Government recognises the importance of a smooth and timely process for overseas electors in regards to the 12 December General Election, and has taken steps to ensure that postal votes reach overseas electors in good time to cast their vote.The timetable for UK elections was revised in 2013 to extend the time available for postal vote packs to be printed, posted and returned. We are also working with Royal Mail to set up a dedicated scheme for Returning Officers to use to expedite the delivery of postal votes to overseas electors. If an elector is concerned that their local postal services are irregular or if they live far from the UK, we advise that they consider voting by proxy as an alternative to a postal vote.The Government has no plans to bring forward legislative proposals to enable British citizens living overseas who have postal votes to receive postal vote packs by email or vote online. The selection of elected representatives for Parliament is regarded as requiring the highest possible level of integrity and, at present, there are concerns that online voting, by any means, is not seen by many to be suitably rigorous and secure, and could be vulnerable to attack or fraud.